[Ha'aretz] Reuven Pedatzur - Recently, Abdelsalaam Majali, who was and who may be again the Jordanian prime minister, paid a visit to Israel and spoke of the confederation plan between Jordan and the Palestinians as if it were his own initiative, but one could discern that he had received the blessings of King Abdullah. Quite a few senior members of the Fatah leadership are starting to believe that the plan could perhaps be a way out of the dead-end where they have been trapped since the Oslo agreements. The reason for the resurrection of the confederation plan lies in the fear in Amman that the struggle between Fatah and Hamas will spill over into Jordanian territory. The condition for the establishment of the federation, Abdullah's aides say, is an Israeli-Palestinian agreement over the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Only after that will the independent state be invited to join the proposed confederation.
2007-07-25 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive