Arab Foreign Ministers Meet in Cairo Ahead of US Delegation’s Arrival
by JNS.org
JNS.org – Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian officials met in Cairo Saturday to discuss the next stages in the US-led peace process prior to the arrival of a high-level White House delegation in the region this week.
At the Cairo meeting, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Shukri coordinated their positions and voiced appreciation for the “American role” in the Middle East peace process.
The ministers’ statement came days before visits by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and the president’s international negotiations representative, Jason Greenblatt, to Israel, the disputed territories, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell will accompany Kushner and Greenblatt during their trip.
Azzam al-Ahmad, an official of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, said the Palestinians are deliberating on the possibility of unilaterally approaching international bodies such as the United Nations if the US-led talks fail to yield a “serious peace process”— defined by the PA as negotiations that support a two-state solution and halt Israeli construction in the disputed territories.