For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 10, 2001
Remarks of the President and His Majesty King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Photo Opportunity
The Oval Office
1:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: I'm going to have an
opening statement. His Majesty will have an opening
statement. I'll be glad to take a couple of questions from
the American press. His Majesty will take a couple of
questions from the Jordanian press, and we'll alternate.
It's my honor to welcome The Majesty to the
Oval Office, to our country. We had a very good
lunch. We discussed a lot of subjects, starting with how
best to work together to lay the foundation for peace in the Middle
East. We had a very good discussion about trade, and I
explained to His Majesty that ours is a country that believes in free
trade.
We look forward to working to get an
agreement, one way or the other, out of our Congress, that encourages
free trade with Jordan. We will be discussing strategies as
how best to achieve that objective; but the objective is for there to
be a free trade agreement between our countries.
His Majesty is one of the young leaders of the
Middle East who has got a good vision for peace. And I look
forward to his advice and counsel, and working closely together to
achieve peace. So welcome, Your Majesty.
HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH: Thank
you very much, sir. Mr. President, as you said, we had a
very warm and constructive discussions today about not only bilateral
relations, but that of the region. And I believe that we're
both committed to finding peace and stability in our part of the
world. We're very grateful for all the support that we've
had from your country over the years. And I look forward to
working with you, sir, and with your administration to try and bring
peace and stability to the Middle East.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
Q Your Majesty, with
apologies, because there's another subject on everybody's
mind. Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: What might that be?
Q Well, it's the China
problem. What is it going to take to resolve
that? Have you considered dealing directly with the
President of China?
THE PRESIDENT: We are working hard
to resolve the situation. The first piece of news I have to
report is, I talked to the General, Sealock, again. He met
with our folks in Hainan Island. He reported that spirits
are high, that the troops are patient.
He informed us that there is an exchange of
e-mails between the -- our troops and their families, which is, I found
to be an important piece of news, that the families will be able to
talk to each other.
Diplomacy sometimes takes a little longer than
people would like. I urge the Chinese to bring resolution to
this issue. It's time for our people to come home.
Q Mr. President, what
about the issue with Jesse Jackson? Mr. President, what
about the issue with Reverend Jesse Jackson? He says if
China lets him in, he will go there to help free the 24 detainees.
THE PRESIDENT: We are -- there's a
lot of people that are anxious for this situation to end. I
appreciate the goodwill of a lot of Americans that are concerned about
our folks in Hainan Island. This administration is doing
everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient
way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution
to an end.
Q Do you support
Reverend Jackson? Do you support --
Q Mr. President, you
said a moment ago --
THE PRESIDENT: This is a Jordanian
reporter.
Q Mr. President, you
said a moment ago that diplomacy takes longer than sometimes people
would like. Are you trying to prepare the American people
for an extended and prolonged stay of this 24-member crew, in Chinese
captivity?
THE PRESIDENT: No. I am
making it clear to the Chinese that it's in their nation's interests to
end this situation as quickly as possible. As all members of
my administration have been saying, that the longer this goes, the more
likely it is that it could -- could -- jeopardize relations, and we
certainly don't want that to happen.
Q Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: Is there anybody
from the Jordanian --
Q The West Bank --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, ma'am?
Q A Jewish spiritual
leader yesterday called upon killing all Arabs, and we are seeing
Israel launching an unannounced, full-scale war against
Palestinians. Is your country going to use or veto another
proposal at the United Nations to send an international protection
force?
THE PRESIDENT: Our country is very
interested and working with all parties to -- for parties to lay down
their arms. The only -- wait, let me --
Q Your Majesty, can you
state specifically what you think --
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not quite
through yet --
Q Sorry.
THE PRESIDENT: And then you're
next.
Q Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: In order for there
to be discussions that will lead to peace, first and foremost, the
violence must stop. And we're working hard to convince the
parties to stop the violence. His Majesty and I talked about
how best that all countries, peaceful countries in the region can
discourage violent activities. And the Secretary of State
and -- has been on the phone recently with the leaders in the Middle
East to make sure that they understand the U.S. position is for the
violence to stop.
Q Your Majesty, can you
say specifically, beyond rhetorical tools, what Jordan and the United
States can do to stop the violence, bring it down, restore calm?
HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH: Well, I
think the situation at present is try to find a way of de-escalating
the violence. There has been meetings between the Israelis
and the Palestinians as early as last week, which produced some
results. And I think we need to be able to build on that.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you
all. Look what you started. Thank you very much.
END
1:11 P.M. EDT
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