US embassy cable - 03AMMAN3233

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003233 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
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