Word: amman
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After last week's victory, Saddam was cheered by a four-hour visit from two of his supporters, Jordan's King Hussein and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. The two had been conferring in the Jordanian capital of Amman and decided, without advance notice, to fly to Baghdad for consultations. One of Mubarak's key objectives was to persuade Saddam to renew diplomatic relations with Egypt, which were severed in 1977 at a time when Egypt was making peace overtures toward Israel. He was not quite ready to take that step at the moment, Saddam told his visitors; what really...
Mubarak's initiative grew out of an accord signed by Arafat and Jordan's King Hussein in Amman last month. That agreement, which el Baz helped draft, is an ambiguous document that calls for a joint Jordanian-P.L.O. delegation to negotiate for Palestinian rights within "the proposed confederated Arab states of Jordan and Palestine." Though the accord does not specifically demand the creation of a separate Palestinian state, it offers little incentive to Israel to enter negotiations. Hussein and Arafat call upon Israel to withdraw from all occupied Arab territory--the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Golan...
Barely had the Amman accord been made public when P.L.O. leaders began issuing reservations. Farouk Kaddoumi, an Arafat confidant, insisted on the creation of a separate Palestinian state. Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, Arafat's spokesman, demanded that a unified Arab delegation, rather than simply a joint Jordanian-Palestinian team, negotiate with Israel. In a radio interview, Arafat said he appreciated Mubarak's efforts, but insisted on an international peace conference rather than bilateral talks with Israel...
Israel viewed the agreement with supreme skepticism. "What is going on in Amman seems to be directed mainly toward Washington," said Prime Minister Shimon Peres. "But peace must be made with Jerusalem." Washington was appropriately cautious about the Hussein-Arafat meeting. Reagan told reporters: "(From) the little we know about it, it seems as if some progress has been made." If indeed it had, one reason was that Hussein had made skillful preparations. He has taken pains to maintain close ties throughout the Arab world, and last year became the first Arab leader to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cairo since...
...forthrightly it accepts United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. The Palestinians have always rejected that document because it refers to them as "refugees" and does not explicitly call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. If Arafat has not endorsed Resolution 242 as a basis for negotiations, the Amman accord would be a nonstarter in American and Israeli eyes...