Jordan King: Palestinian state must be a priority
Jordan king predicts ‘bleak’ Mideast
Mon Sep 11, 12:01 PM ET 
AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan’s King Abdullah II has warned of a “bleak future” of violence in the Middle East unless efforts are made to set up an independent Palestinian state.
“The Lebanese war dramatically opened all eyes to the fact that if we don’t solve the Palestinian issue, the future looks pretty bleak for the Middle East,” he said in an interview with Time magazine published Monday.
“There needs to be some sort of Palestinian integral geographic state, today not tomorrow,” he said, insisting that efforts must get off the ground over the next six months.
“If we don’t see tangible results on the ground by 2007, then I don’t think there will ever be a Palestinian state. Then I think we are doomed to another decade of violence between Israelis and Arabs, which affects everybody.”
Last week Arab foreign ministers agreed on a new mechanism to revive the stalled Middle East peace process, which they are expected to push for at the United Nations.
The Jordanian monarch told Time this initiative would be “one of the last chances” to secure stability in the troubled Middle East.
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