As Mideast conflict wages, Jordan remains big role in making peace
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Since last week, Israeli, Palestinian and Saudi leaders visited Amman and met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, discussing the Middle East peace process.
The Jordanian leader met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed latest developments in the proximity talks with Israel and efforts to create a suitable environment for reinvigorating the peace process and resuming direct talks.
Also in Amman, Abdullah II met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the two sides discussed means to make a progress in efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution.
Following the two, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz also came to meet with his Jordan counterpart, while the two kings underlined the need for intensified efforts by the international community to realize a tangible progress in the peace process to achieve the two-state solution.
These continued meetings with parties involved in the peace process as well as the historical role and pragmatic diplomatic stances by Jordan at the regional and international levels make the Arab kingdom continue to play a vital role in the Israeli- Palestinian peace process, analysts said.
Historical role
Jordan, due to its proximity to Israel and the occupied territories and its large population of Palestinian refugees, has been actively involved in helping to resolve the conflict for over two decades.
The country has the longest ground borders with Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, which enjoys a historic role in preserving the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and also received an influx of refugees since the 1948 war.
"Jordan is a very important country in resolving the conflict and actively engaged with the leaders in the Arab and foreign states," Oraib Rintawi, head of the Al Quds Center for Political Studies, told Xinhua in an interview.
He added that Jordan is a strategic ally to the United States in the Middle East, and it also has important regional alliances.
