King Abdullah II of Jordan said that deterioration in security in the occupied Palestinian areas could spill over Jordan and appealed to U.S. president to help restart the peace process, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
"A deterioration of the Palestinian situation could have adverse consequences on Jordan’s national security," said a Jordanian statement.
In a letter Abdullah sent to Bush on Thursday, he urged him to "explore all opportunities to achieve the president’s vision for a two-state solution."
Abdullah reiterated the "importance of negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, stating that any withdrawal from the West Bank is welcomed, if negotiated with the Palestinian leadership in the person of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas."
A crisis amounted between the Palestinian Authority and Jordan following April 18 discovery of a large cache of arms smuggled into Jordan allegedly by Hamas.
While Hamas strongly denied any relation to these weapons, Jordan has alleged the weapons were to be used in attacks against its institutions and officials. After the cache was found, Jordan canceled a visit by Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader in Gaza.
Abdullah also warned against unilateral steps Israel is intending to take in the occupied territories saying such steps will have will have negative repercussions on the Palestinians, Arab and Muslim countries."
Abdullah called for a negotiated withdrawal instead of unilateral.
"A negotiated withdrawal will offer Palestinians hope in a political settlement and enhance movement on the road map," the king wrote, referring to the internationally backed peace plan that envisions an end to violence and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Roughly half of Jordan’s 5.5 million people consist of Palestinian families displaced in the 1948 and 1967 wars and their descendants.
