MEDIA REACTION ON SHARM EL-SHEIKH AND AQABA

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TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON SHARM EL-SHEIKH AND AQABA
SUMMITS

News reports

-- All dailies on June 3 led with reports on the Sharm
summit where King Abdullah is expected to arrive today
to deliver an address at the opening session. The
summit, according to the dailies, will focus on four
issues: the Roadmap, the situation in Iraq, the war on
terror, and President Bush's proposal to establish a
free trade market between 12 Arab countries and the
United States. Reports also included the meeting
between Foreign Minister Muasher and Secretary Powell,
who briefed the FM on the draft speech that President
Bush will deliver at the summit. Other reports said
that Arab foreign ministers at Sharm have agreed on
the draft final statement.
-- King meets Abu Mazen. All dailies reported that
King Abdullah met yesterday with Palestinian Prime
Minister Abu Mazen. Following the meeting, the King
said that the Aqaba summit is a serious step towards
implementing the Roadmap, which he described as a
historic opportunity to achieve peace.

Editorial Commentary

Editorial commentaries, political cartoons, and
analyses outside the opinion pages also dealt with the
Sharm and Aqaba summits. The overall outlook, as
expressed by analysts and commentators, is that the
Israeli government opposes the Roadmap in principle,
and that despite its acceptance it will do everything
possible to sabotage the map. All analysts agree that
the decisive factor in the success or failure of the
Roadmap will be the United States' ability to pressure
Israel into honoring its commitments in the road map,
the likelihood of which they view with varying degrees
of pessimism. Below are sample commentaries.

-- "Will the Aqaba Summit Succeed in Describing Sharon
As An Occupier?"

Daily columnist Sultan Hattab writes on the op-ed page
of semi-official influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(06/03): "Those who meet at Sharm and in Aqaba should
wrench two issues from Sharon: The first is that the
territories on which his forces have been stood since
1967 are occupied territories. The second is that his
government should commit itself to a vision of two
neighboring states on the historical land of
Palestine, namely, Israel and Palestine. This should
be done before Sharon wrenches from the meeting,
particularly from the Palestinians, the recognition
that the State of Israel is a solely Jewish state,
which means writing off the Palestinians right of
return."

-- "An Attempt to Render the Aqaba Summit A Failure"

Daily columnist Mahmoud Rimawi wrote in semi-official
influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (06/03): "The way the
occupation government [of Israel] has dealt with the
Roadmap, after the Palestinians and Arabs have
accepted it, surely indicates a premeditated attempt
to sabotage the Aqaba meeting. The danger is that the
Aqaba summit would be reduced to a forum for Israel's
fables and legends, which would drown the Roadmap, in
ambiguous and loose expressions about a Palestinian
state, instead of making a clear commitment to the
implementation of the articles of this plan, and to a
timetable and mechanisms to monitor, and follow up on
its implementation."

-- "The Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh and the Results in
Aqaba"

Chief Editor Taher Udwan wrote in independent, mass-
appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (06/03): "If the
Sharm El-Sheikh summit is intended for the U.S. to
dictate its terms [to Arabs] as some Arab papers have
predicted, then the results will be revealed in the
statements at Aqaba, particularly that of Sharon. On
the other hand, if the Sharm summit aims to establish
an understanding between Bush and the other leaders,
this will be revealed in Bush's statement, also at
Aqaba. This is because tomorrow's summit, not today's
summit, will show the extent of the U.S. commitment to
the peace process and whether seriousness [in pursuing
peace] has replaced its indifference and blind bias
for Israel, which were the hallmarks of U.S. policy
under the current administration."

-- "Full Jordanian Support for the Brothers in
Palestine"
After referring to the King's meeting with Palestinian
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen" in Amman
yesterday, Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-
Dustour (06/03) editorialized: "The Aqaba summit
constitutes regional and international recognition of
Jordan's efforts, that had a great affect in
reinforcing the Palestinian's steadfastness in the
face of Israeli aggression and settlement program, and
in breaking the wall of international silence that has
enveloped the Palestinian scene. [Therefore] we look
forward to the Aqaba summit with optimism and hope, as
do many capitals in the region and beyond, as this big
event is seen as a historic opportunity to stop the
slide into the abyss of violence, extremism, and
chaos." GNEHM