Commenting on the Israeli claims that there is no Palestinian peace partner, His Majesty King Abdullah II said that Israel is partially to blame for that, for it does not help in the establishment of strong Palestinian institutions and security apparatus and in having a strong prime minister.



The King's remarks came during a meeting with media leaderships that was attended by Prime Minister Faisal Al Fayez, and the ministers of the Hashemite Royal Court, foreign affairs and planning.



His Majesty called on the Palestinians to come up with a plan or an agenda for peace that helps both the Palestinians and Arabs.



On the continuous assistance provided by Jordan to the Palestinians, King Abdullah said that Jordan provides helps the Palestinians on more than one level, especially in the political domain, noting in this regard the meeting that was held in Amman between the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell and the Israeli Prime Minister Ahmad Qureia.



The King denied Jordan's readiness to sent troops to Iraq over the coming phase, indicating that each of Iraq's neighboring countries has special interests in it, and the existence of its army their will not be right.



However, the King said that the other Arab countries could do that. "This does not mean that we do not want to help the Iraqi people," he said, pointing to the Jordanian field hospital in Fallujah and the training of the Iraqi police, army and personnel in Jordan.



His Majesty expected that the transitional period, which is expected to last from July until the end of next January, will be a tough period, due to the difficult security situation and the difficulty to chose a prime minister and ministers who are popular among Iraqis.



The King criticized the US steps to uproot Al Baath party, dissolve the Iraqi army and police and weaken the Sunnis who feel that are excluded from formulating Iraq's future.



On the assurances given to him by the US President George Bush on May 6, the King said that he did not sense a change in the position of Bush on the two states solution which does not contradict with the roadmap.



King Abdullah affirmed that his meeting with Bush came due to the sensitivity of the issue which was raised by Bush with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.



His Majesty was able to get assurances that there will be no change on the references of the peace process and the implementation of the international resolutions that concern the Palestinian issue.



On the commitment of Arab governments to reforms, the King said that the Arab summit would come up with a strong declaration on the issues of reforms in the Arab world, and steps to implement it will be discussed in a later stage.



Foreign Minister Dr. Marwan Muasher said that the Arab foreign ministers came up with a draft on reforms that was much better than many expected. "The draft tackled the issues of political reform, women's rights, educational reform and the independence of the judiciary," he added.



His Majesty warned the US against the deterioration of its image and reputation in the Arab world, a fact which makes it harder for its friends to convince ordinary people to differentiate between the US policy and the US people. " Frustration from the US policy in the Arab world and the world in general, began to reflect on the image of the Americans," he added.



On the assurances that Jordan received form the US, the foreign minister said that they are important for the Kingdom, for it is the first time that the US approves that Jordan has special interests in the peace process, and that the US would reject any result that endanger these interests.