Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron received at the Elysee Palace King Abdullah II and Rania from Jordan on a five-day tour

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron received late Friday afternoon at the Elysee King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan, the visit comes « in the continuity of a rich bilateral sequence after the visit of the Minister of Armies Florence Parly and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Jordan in recent months, « said the presidency this week.

The two heads of state spoke about « regional crises, whose resolution France and Jordan are working jointly, especially the situation in Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, » said the Elysee.

The king of Jordan began his tour in Morocco on March 27 and 28, the visit was placed under the sign of economic cooperation.

King Mohammed VI and King Abdullah II of Jordan have decided to « lift the relations of brotherhood and cooperation between Morocco and Jordan at the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership, » says a joint statement relayed by Maghreb Arab press (MAP ).

In the same text, the two sovereigns announced that they had decided, as part of the friendship visit of the Hashemite sovereign in Morocco, « the implementation of concrete projects in areas such as energy, agriculture and tourism » .

The next day, King Abdullah II of Jordan, accompanied by his wife Rania, went to Italy, where were received Friday at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Friday, March 29, the monarch receives in Italy the « Lamp of St. Francis », a prize considered as the Catholic Nobel Peace, created in 1981, by the convent of the Franciscans of Assisi, this prize is awarded to a world personality having worked, in the eyes of the Franciscans, peace.

Abdallah II of Jordan, was rewarded « for his action and his commitment to promote human rights, harmony between different religions and the reception of refugees, » say the Franciscans. His kingdom, located between Israel, Syria and Iraq, hosts many refugees. In 2005, Abdallah II was already rewarded for his role in promoting dialogue and peace. He was awarded the Simon Wiesenthal Center Award for Tolerance.

King Abdullah II is in France as part of a tour that took him to Morocco and Italy. He will attend the 30th summit of the Arab League on March 31 in Tunisia. France benefits from a planned air base in Jordan, from which fighter jets operate against the Islamic State (IS) group in neighboring Syria, as part of Operation Chammal (French part of the international operation against the ultraradical group). The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared Saturday the end of ISIS’s « self-proclaimed Caliphate » in 2014 on territories in Iraq and Syria.

The 30th summit of the Arab League, which begins March 31 in Tunis, Tunisia, should show the categorical rejection of the Arab countries of the decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize the sovereignty of Israel on the Golan Heights.

« We will work with other Arab countries and the international community to limit the expected impact of this decision in various regional and international fora, » said Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui to his counterparts at the meeting, in reported by Reuters.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit was even firmer in his remarks, saying that « the Golan (was) Syrian land. » Most of the Syrian Golan was conquered by the Jewish state at the time. the Six Day War in 1967, before being annexed in 1981. An annexation that has never been recognized by the international community.

For King Abdullah II of Jordan, this subject is extremely important, even fearing that his state could be divided by the Americans.

At the end of the meeting, Arab diplomats approved a draft declaration on the Golan that will be presented to heads of state on March 31, with a view to an announcement at the summit. According to the Saudi Arab News, quoting diplomatic sources, the statement is a categorical rejection of Donald Trump’s decision.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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