King Abdullah underlines need for activating joint Arab action

Jordanian King Abdullah II asserted that the Arab and Islamic nations are facing exceptional and unprecedented challenges requiring sustained coordination in order to activate the joint Arab action and further enhance cooperation to stand up to all threats and challenges which badly harm their interests. Interviewed by the Qatari "Al-Sharq" newspaper, out on Monday, he voiced hope that Doha Arab summit would make a positive turning point towards outlining mechanisms for the implementation of serious and joint Arab action to enable Arabs overcome the many challenges they are facing. As regards the situation in Syria, King Abdullah called for reaching a transitional, peaceful and political settlement that could maintain the unity and sovereignty of the Syrian territories and stop bloodletting. The Syrian crisis has caused Jordan and all neighboring states to bear a big burden as a result of the large number of Syrian refugees who are fleeing the conflict in their country, added the Jordanian monarch. Responding to a question on efforts to resume the Middle East peace process, King Abdullah asserted that the whole region will remain suffering instability as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict is still unsolved. The Jordanian monarch said "we exert strenuous efforts", through coordination with sisterly Arab and European countries, to urge the US take more rapid action as regards the revival of the Mideast peace process and resumption of peace negotiations in view of US President Barack Obama's recent tour of the region.