Mitterrand, King Hussein Urge Israel to Talk to PLO
Jordan’s King Hussein and French President Francois Mitterrand deplored the slow pace of Middle East peace negotiations Saturday and urged Israel to talk to the “real representatives” of the Palestinian people.
At a joint news conference after talks with the visiting French leader, King Hussein said, “The steps have been slow . . . and we believe that the skeptics are growing in numbers.”
He politely brushed aside Mitterrand’s call in a speech Friday for a step-by-step approach to Arab-Israeli peacemaking.
“Fragmenting the problem with expectations that maybe revert to the so-called step-by-step approach of the past will never achieve the objective,” he said.
The king said Jordan was trying to advance direct Arab-Israeli peace negotiations in Washington and multilateral talks on regional development but there would be no solution until Israel addressed the Palestinian issue by talking to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
He played down a draft agenda for an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty drafted by the two countries’ negotiators this month, saying it had been leaked before the Jordanian government had even given its answer.
The president said his talks in Jerusalem had convinced him that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is serious about peace and determined to reach agreements.
French officials said Mitterrand had privately conveyed a verbal message from Rabin urging the king to seize what could be the last opportunity for peace and stressing that Israel believed a strong Jordan is essential for Mideast stability.
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