King Abdullah of Jordan is in Washington this week, lobbying U.S. support for the cause of Middle East talks.
His visit comes against the backdrop of continued turbulence in the Middle East: Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza, Egypt's attempt to negotiate a halt to the Palestinian attacks and reports that conditions in Gaza are at their worst in 40 years.
The Jordanian monarch has called for urgent progress this year toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace — because if no progress is made now, the upcoming presidential election may mean that a new American president may not be willing to tackle Mideast peace for another two to three years.
"What happens in the meantime? The core issue of the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but there are new state actors [such as Iran] in the region and my fear is that the failure of the peace process will increase the aggression of the extremists in our region. And that dynamic makes the core issue bigger than Israel and Palestine," King Abdullah tells Robert Siegel.
"It will bring us into a very dark future; all of us, Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs."
King Abdullah warns of Iran's growing influence — directly, as well as through Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
"Those in the Iranian government that are pursuing this policy have hijacked the Palestinian corps. ... And the failure of the peace process will get them to increase their ambitions in the region. And if it doesn't play out between the Israelis and Palestinians, there's Lebanon and there's also Iraq," the king says.
As a result of his discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah says he believes "the will is there" to achieve Middle East peace.
Nonetheless, he does think the international community, led by the United States, will need to play a role, particularly in helping resolve the thorniest of the final status issues.
King Abdullah also stresses the need to strengthen the Palestinian National Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Israel can really empower Abu Mazen [President Mahmoud Abbas' nickname] and the PNA to really be able to reach out. ... You want to be able to show the people that you can get things done," he says. "The problem is we're not doing enough to support Abu Mazen and the PNA."
He says progress can be made even though Hamas controls Gaza; he says people will be able to see one type of government in Gaza and another in the West Bank and decide for themselves.
Regardless of what happens, King Abdullah sees no alternative but to push for progress on Mideast peace.
"I think this is the opportunity, this is the chance for all of us to be able to move on with our lives. If we don't solve the core issue of the problem, then I fear that the conflict is just going to continue. I don't see any end in sight. We need to win, otherwise the Middle East is going to continue to slide into the abyss," he says.
On the issue of Iraq, King Abdullah says despite the desire of both Mideast countries and Americans to see the U.S. military presence out of Iraq, he warns that "realities on the ground" may not allow the withdrawal of troops as easily or quickly as some U.S. politicians have said.
He advises consultation with the Iraqis to decide on a timetable.
"Without putting any words in their mouths, I think that there are a lot of Iraqis that would be nervous of how quickly withdrawal takes place and what vacuum you create, and I think that's the problem.
"If you move too quickly, you create a vacuum that may be filled by elements that are going to create more instability," King Abdullah says.
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