Word: rifa
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During the 28-hour visit, the two Arab leaders met four times, twice alone. What was said during their seven hours of private discussions remains undisclosed. No joint communiqué was issued. Jordan's Prime Minister Zaid al Rifa'i revealed only that the talks had covered regional developments, Arab cooperation and bilateral relations. There were unconfirmed reports that Assad and Hussein had agreed to exchange ambassadors. But there were no hints that either man had yielded on two main points of contention: how to resolve the Palestinian question and how to end the gulf war, in which Jordan supports Iraq...
...Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, Jordanian Prime Minister Zaid al Rifa'i and his Syrian counterpart, Abdel-Rauf al Kasm, apparently made strides in healing the long-standing rift between their countries. The two men met at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. Syria severed diplomatic relations with Jordan in 1980, and the situation became even more strained after Jordan's Hussein put together his Feb. 11 agreement with P.L.O. Leader Arafat to reach a negotiated Middle East settlement with Israel. The signs of rapprochement between Hussein and Syrian President Hafez Assad raised the long-term possibility...
...Lauro hijackers encountered, Arafat made the 500-mile journey from Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, to Amman by automobile. Seven top P.L.O. leaders accompanied him to the palace for the 2 1/2-hour meeting with Hussein. The ! next day Arafat held a three-hour session with Jordanian Prime Minister Zaid al Rifa'i. Later, however, the P.L.O. leader claimed that Hussein was not upset in their meeting. Said he: "Jordanian-Palestinian relations are too strong to be affected by an event here or an event there...
...Arabs would undoubtedly like to have the cease-fire renewed, if only to ease the pressure on them and give them time to rearm. But they will not admit it. The closest they have come was the observation last week by Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdul Munem Rifa'i that his beleaguered kingdom has "a positive attitude" to any reasonable Middle East peace plan. Meanwhile Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Sudan met in Cairo last weekend, along with Fedayeen Leader Yasser Arafat. The agenda made no mention of peace or ceasefires. It was concerned mainly with coordination...
...Rifa'i also said that he felt the American press was not reporting the situation in Israel objectively, but was favoring the Zionist position...