Abdullah to U.S.: Take lead on Mideast peace

Citing the risks of further delay, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Congress Wednesday the United States must take the lead in creating conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Speaking to a joint meeting of House and Senate members, Abdullah said that history has shown that progress in Mideast peacemaking is impossible without American leadership.

“We look to you to play a historic role,” he said, adding that results are needed “not in one year or five years but this year.”

“No more bloodshed, no more lives pointlessly taken,” Abdullah declared.

His speech, lasting just under a half hour, was delivered with only an occasional aside in Arabic. He was interrupted a number of times by applause.

The king’s remarks were limited almost entirely to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abdullah made no direct reference to Hamas, the extremist group that controls most of the Palestinian government. He also made no mention of the current divisions in the Palestinian leadership or to recent efforts by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to revive peace efforts.

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Instead, he spoke of the suffering that both Israelis and Palestinians have experienced. At one point, Abdullah lamented “the 40 years of occupation” that he said Palestinians have endured.

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“The goal must be a peace in which all sides gain,” he said. “There must be a peace in which Israelis will be part of the neighborhood.”

His comments on the Middle East that he issued before his departure for Washington were far more critical of Israel than the ones he delivered on Wednesday.

Last Friday, he said, “The main responsibility (for achieving peace) lies with Israel, which must choose either to remain a prisoner of the mentality of ’Israel the fortress’ or to live in peace and stability with its neighbors.”