Jordan's king presses Palestinian-Israeli conflict with Bush

But missing from the evening meeting was Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who also was scheduled to meet with the American president today but postponed the talks until tomorrow.

The Bush-Maliki meeting was expected to focus on ways to keep Iraq from plunging into full-out civil war but was put off until the next day after the disclosure of US doubts about al-Maliki’s ability to control the security situation in Iraq.

A top Iraqi lawmaker said the meeting was cancelled at the request of the Iraqis, who did not want the Jordanian king present for talks between Bush and al-Maliki.

Redha Jawad Taqi, a senior aide of top Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim who also was in Amman, said the Iraqis balked at the three-way meeting after learning that Jordan’s King Abdullah II wanted to broaden the talks to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Though much of the lead up to the Bush-Maliki summit has centred around Iraq, Abdullah urged Bush during their meeting to resume efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib said that there was an American “commitment toward qualitative” peace process initiatives.

“There was clear American understanding of the need to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the centrality of that issue,” al-Khatib said.

The Jordanian monarch and the leaders of the United State’s two other main allies in the Middle East – Egypt and Saudi Arabia – argue that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most pressing crisis in the region, and fear Islamic militancy will strengthen if it is not resolved.

The Jordanian official said the king was interested in hearing Bush’s response to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s proposal this wek for Palestinians to return to peace talks, saying his country would be willing to leave most of the West Bank in exchange.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also is in Jordan, but to attend a Mideast democracy conference that begins tomorrow at the Dead Sea, is scheduled to meet separately with Olmert in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. She also will meet with the foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt and Gulf countries to discuss the issue, al-Khatib said.

A fragile cease-fire went into effect early on Sunday between the Palestinians and the Israelis, ending a five-month offensive in Gaza that has killed hundreds.

Abdullah and Bush also addressed the escalating violence in Iraq, with the king calling on Sunnis and Shiites to come together and stop the violence that endangers the region, al-Khatib said.

“We believe there is a need to support the Iraqis to unite themselves to reunite because sectarian violence in that country is a threat to the whole region,” he said.

Arab diplomats in Baghdad have said Abdullah was seeking to present Bush with a proposal to curb the sectarian strife in Iraq and give Iraqi security and government greater responsibilities.

Jordanian officials would not confirm such as proposal, but Abdullah stressed during talks with al-Maliki earlier Wednesday the need for “a clear mechanism to put an end for security deterioration in Iraq and help Iraqi police and military forces to take control in the country,” according to a Royal Palace statement.

Abdullah has been conducting intensive talks with Iraqi political and religious leaders in recent days to try to push for a national reconciliation government.

Earlier today, the king met with the Iraqi Muslim Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and condemned all terrorist attacks in Iraq – whether they are against Shiites or Sunnis. The bulk of the recent attacks have been carried out by militiamen from Iraq’s Shiite majority.

Abdullah warned earlier this week that unless steps are taken, the new year could dawn with three civil wars in the Mideast – in Lebanon, between the Palestinians and Israelis and in Iraq. He says the fighting in Iraq amounts to a civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites, a term the White House has rejected.