The State Department expressed caution today about any expectations of major progress toward Israeli-Jordanian negotiations as a result of the talks being held in London by its top Middle East official.
Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, has been in London all week where he has held talks with King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Premier Shimon Peres. He is expected back in Washington in the next few days, according to State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb.
Kalb refused to comment on Peres’ remark in a television interview earlier today that some progress has been made. Instead, he stressed that the State Department has been emphasizing for months that progress, if it comes, will be “incremental rather than a sudden, dramatic overnight breakthrough.”
Kalb added that Murphy has been seeking to “move the peace process forward” and to do this has been discussing the “international context” which would lead to direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan and the Palestinian representation for such a meeting. State Department officials have stressed that these are the two issues that must be solved in order for the peace process to advance.
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