Anwar Nusscibeh, the former Defense Minister of Jordan, denied a report Saturday that he would join the Jordanian Cabinet as Minister in charge of the administered territories. Nusscibeh, who is 60, has been in retirement from politics since 1967 and is a resident of East Jerusalem.
The report, in the Beirut newspaper A Nahar, said that Nusscibeh had traveled to Amman Friday to discuss the appointment with King Hussein.
He stressed that he knew nothing about the report. He told newsmen that he had “not been requested by anyone to go to Amman.”
At a luncheon meeting at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv last week, Nusscibeh said that the direct contacts between Israelis and Arabs since 1967 were important. He said that “For the sake of our future, we should never revert to a situation in which there is a total lack of mutual contact. The important thing is not to agree, but to meet each other, even if we have to swallow some of our pride.” Nusscibeh has been mentioned from time to time as the possible go-between in secret talks between the Israelis and the Jordanians.
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