His Majesty King Abdullah II has called upon the Sunni Moslems in Iraq to go ahead and participate in the coming national elections as scheduled on Jan. 30.



"Jordan is working with Iraqis and with sects of the Iraqi community to hold these elections," King Abdullah said in an interview with the CNN on Wednesday.



The King voiced hope that the Palestinian leadership would be able, in the coming few weeks, to rearrange its priorities and hold the presidential elections.



Seizing the time element is very crucial to reinvigorate the peace process and to work seriously and immediately to establish an independent and viable Palestinian state.



In reply to a question on his decision to relieve HRH Prince Hamzah from the position of crown prince, King Abdullah said the decision was taken to give Prince Hamzah the freedom to work and undertake any mission or responsibility together with his brothers.



Prince Hamzah has a lot of potentials that could be used to serve his country, King Abdullah said noting that he hasn't named a new Crown Prince yet.



King Abdullah said he feared that insecurity in Iraq would force postpone the date set for elections... "but it is clear that the Iraqi government and the international community insist on holding the elections on the set date, January 30, I don't think they will change their mind," King Abdullah said.



"I think there is a responsibility ahead of us to contact the Iraqi Sunnis, who are worried about these elections, and tell them that the elections will be held as scheduled and if you don't take part you will miss the opportunity," King Abdullah said in reply to a question.



If the elections are to be postponed then there should be reasons and programs that could convince the international community to do that but this hasn't happened so far, King Abdullah added.



Asked about the situation in Iraq and whether it helps hold the elections, King Abdullah said "The daily images present the impression that things are worse but we want to move Iraqi society forward, there is an opportunity with elections and I think if we can have elections that would be a new phase of Iraq, hopefully a better one."



"The problem that we have if the Sunnis don't engage in elections, the new government will be mandated in writing the constitution and my concern is that if you are going to write a constitution and part of the society is not involved that could create a sort of problem so I am hoping that we in Jordan and other countries and leaders can convince the Sunni to go to the poll," King Abdullah added.



Asked about whether he is concerned that Iraq could be split into Kurdish sector, Sunni sector and Shiite sector, King Abdullah said "that is always a concern and again my sort of red flag is the constitution and we have to think out of the box because you can create circumstances where a constitution is written in such a way that it excludes part of the society and that might push people towards a civil wall but I think all of us in the international community are coming together in supporting the present Iraqi government. It is made very clear that elections are going to be held on time and we have to get everybody involved."



In reply to a question on the situation in Palestine after President Arafat's departure and whether the upcoming
Palestinian elections would bring about an opportunity to revive the peace process, King Abdullah said " I think we have a golden opportunity at the moment, there are a new players on the scene. I think Abu Mazen has the ability to be a strong leader for the Palestinian people and create new circumstances so that we can't use the excuse that there is no partner for peace. This is why I think we are all very excited and supportive of the elections on January 9the. We hope that the Palestinian leadership will organize themselves in the next couple of weeks and right after elections. We
need to reinvigorate the roadmap, move the process forward, get the Palestinians and Israelis talking together."



Asked about the Palestinian leaders running for the elections including Abu Mazen who is being challenged by Marwan Barghuthe, a Palestinian serving five life sentences in prison and convicted of terrorism by Israel, King Abdullah said " It confuses the issue at the moment. I don't know if it is right at this particular time. What we don't want is a conflict between Palestinian leadership at the time when they need to identify a leader move forward and allow the international community to get the Palestinians engaged with the Israelis... we just have to watch to se what happens over the next several weeks."



On Israel's pullout from Gaza, King Abdullah said this issue is still not fully defined and there still many questions about it.



"We hope that the pullout of Gaza is part and partial of the roadmap, if it is a side issue I think it will confuse the
process and it is still not a hundred percent confirmed of what is happening in Gaza, what is the endgame.



On what has been heard by some Americans on Syria's readiness to restart peace talks with Israel, King Abdullah said "We have heard the same signals. They seem to be positive. President Bashar will be coming to Jordan next couple of weeks. I hope to see and hear positive things from him and that we can move the process between the Syrians and the Israelis forward.



In reply to a question on the King's decision to relieve HRH Prince Hamzah from the position of Crown Prince and the fact that a lot of viewers are interested to know more about this story, King Abdullah said" just before the late King Hussein passed away, he had said that the issue of the crown prince is one that should be just a role that is with very limited capabilities. I have four very strong brothers, very capable, two of them, Hamzah who was the crown prince, coming back to serve Jordan within the next twelve months and basically this allows him to be able to expand his horizons, get involved in the issues that he cares about. That I believe will ready serve the country, as opposed to be limited by the title which his late Majesty has dictated.



Asked whether Prince Hamzah is happy with this, King Abdullah said" I think this opens new opportunity for him, so it's a challenge because it means he will work closer with me I hope and be able to have more of breath of getting involved with Jordanian society. He has a lot of capabilities that he can bring towards his country and I am looking forward to his return and I think you will wonderful things from him.



The King said he hasn't named his son Prince Hussein, who is ten years old, as crown prince. "The system has been done is that the crown prince will not be filled, depending on circumstances and if anything should happen, there are instructions and there is a system in place.



His Majesty King Abdullah stressed the necessity for the Sunni in Iraq to get involved in the upcoming elections. Otherwise they will miss the opportunity to be an effective partner in Iraq's political system, the King said in an interview with the U.S. daily the Washington Post carried Wednesday.



The elections should be conducted in all Iraqi areas, said the King, who warned against any external intervention in
the election process particularly from Iraq's neighboring states.



The King also warned against any attempt to change the balanced political geography in Iraq.