RAMALLAH, March 7, 2012 (WAFA) – Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh Wednesday delivered a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas from King Abdullah emphasizing Jordan’s commitment to help keep the peace process alive, according to PLO Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat.

He said in a joint press conference with Judeh that King Abdullah stressed in the letter that Jordan will continue with regional and international efforts and in contacts with the United States, Russia, the  European Union and Russia, all members of the quartet, to revive the peace talks.

Erekat denied claims that recent Jordanian efforts exerted in the exploratory talks held in the Jordanian capital Amman in January have failed.

“The Jordanian efforts did not fail,” he said. “Jordan was clear and specific from the beginning that the exploratory talks were supposed to create the proper conditions to resume direct negotiations.”

“We were never against negotiations. We always said that a stop to settlements, including in Jerusalem, and the two-state solution principle on the 1967 borders are what will reactivate negotiations,” said Erekat. “These are not conditions, rather they are obligations,” he added.

Judeh said he discussed with Abbas the chances to revive negotiations and his recent talks in Washington and Moscow.

He said his country will continue with efforts on all levels and spheres to “create the proper conditions and incentives to resume negotiations.”

He said that “our position, which is similar to the Palestinian leadership, is that the most ideal way to reach hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people in establishing their Palestinian state is negotiations.”

He said that resolving the Palestinian conflict is in Jordan’s national and security interest.

Judeh, who flew to Ramallah in a Jordanian army helicopter, stressed the importance of Palestinian-Jordanian cooperation and consultation on “the required steps because we all know that there are unilateral Israeli measures and we all know that the entire world stands against settlements and consider them illegitimate and illegal.”

He said that “we stressed in out meeting today that coordination is important for the coming stage so that not to give Israel a pretext to continue in these illegal measures that could undermine peace chances.”

M.S.