Interview with His Majesty King Abdullah II
BBC (introduction): Welcome to the Jordanian capital Amman, here and across the Middle East, there's been reactions from people from leaders to the London bombings. There's been condemnations, expressions of concern, but also warnings that unless the political conflicts in this region, Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian front, are resolved the violence will continue. Jordan is squeezed between Iraq and Israel and the Palestinian territories. Its leadership is regarded as one of the strongest allies of Britain and the United States. Where does it see the solution to this indiscriminate violence? We are joined here by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
BBC: Thank you very much for speaking to the BBC. First of all, your reaction to the bombings in London.
King Abdullah: Well, I think all of us have been shocked and devastated by this really terrible tragedy that has unfolded in Britain. And I'd like to take this opportunity really to extend our sympathies to the victims and their families for this terrible, terrible crime that has happened in England. And for Britain to know that they are not alone. We will stand with them in their hour of need. We are doing all that we can as part of many countries to work with the British authorities to identify who are behind this horrible crime, and bring them to justice as quickly as possible and to make sure that they are defeated at the end of the day.
BBC: You're a frequent visitor to London, your own mother is British. Does it surprise you that it took place in Britain, a country with so many resources, so much experience?
King Abdullah: Well, you know, His Late Majesty King Hussein, myself, my wife Rania we always have a special place in our hearts for Britain and for London in particular. And it is shocking as somebody who has used the public transportation system in England and the underground in particular, for a crime to be carried out in such a way that affects the normal Londoner. For me it is just devastating. We have to understand obviously that the terrorists do have the ability to pick the time and place. I know that the British authorities have done all they can to protect Britain, as we have had to do here in Jordan. Unfortunately you know, every now and then it comes down to luck and unfortunately the terrorists did get through this time. But that doesn't make it any easier for those in Britain who have felt this terrible crime.
BBC: But is the so-called war on terror failing? Now there's talk of an Al Qaeda 2.
King Abdullah: Again, since 9/11 we always identified that this is a long-term approach. The short-term is trying to stop terrorist attacks taking place. Education and being able to outreach is the longer term problem that we have inside of Islam in this particular issue. And we just have to keep at it. Part of the problem is that it's not just the issue of taking down terrorists its going back to the root causes of terrorism. And as you alluded to in your introduction, that we do have problems in the Middle East whether it's the Israeli-Palestinian issue or that of Iraq that allows these groups to use ,unfortunately for us, Islam as a cover to hide behind and to carry out these attacks against innocent people.
BBC: But is the battle going in the wrong direction? Is the West dealing with it in the wrong way such that it all seems to get worse?
King Abdullah: On the issue of combating terrorism, for the first time since 9/11 the international community is working together which they didn't beforehand. And for example, I know that all of us that are in the fight against terrorism are coordinating today better than we ever had before but that's only part of the problem. It does get more difficult to be able to deal with terrorists if we don't go back to the core issues. But to say that we're losing ground, I don't think that we are. Unfortunately the Israeli-Palestinian issue and Iraq, the atmosphere does allow those two problems to be a recruiting ground for extremists unfortunately.
BBC: So Western governments, Arab leaders as well, not doing enough to tackle those root causes?
King Abdullah: Well, we are all working very hard particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which we see as the core issue and the area that brings frustration to people in this part of the world. We're not moving forward enough but it takes the international community to put pressure on the Israelis and Palestinians to move forward. If we don't solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem then terrorists are going to use this as a recruiting ground to get sympathy from those who are frustrated from what they see in the Middle East and continue taking acts of terrorism against innocent people.
BBC: And the big failure in Iraq, some say now that is a breeding ground for terrorist activity as Afghanistan was …
King Abdullah: Iraq has the potential to be a lot worse. We have just come away from an Islamic conference two days a go, where for the first time Muslim religious leaders and specialists throughout the Islamic world came together to come together identifying the main sects of Islam, being unified. The conference addressed the fact that these people have nothing to do with Islam. They are on the periphery of Islam.
BBC: Nearly four years after the attacks of September 11th, it looks like the terrorists are winning.
King Abdullah: This is today a battle that they won yesterday. It is a war and they will win a couple of battles but I believe that together we will be victorious at the end. But we need to get the silent majority not just in Islam but also in Christianity and Judaism to stand up and say that you know enough is enough, we do not condone this, that we have to come together we have to reach out to each other, that is our only future.
