Jordan urges Israel-Palestinian peace talks

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan -- Jordan's King Abdullah yesterday urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their stalled peace talks.

"The future for the Middle East and beyond is with the normalcy of peace," Abdullah told the opening of a two-day special meeting of the Davos-based World Economic Forum, held on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

He said "shortsighted leaders may think they can shut" the door to peace -- a rebuke believed directed at Israel's right-wing government. He added that a Palestinian-Israeli deal must consider Israel's "security and acceptance" and allow for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Around 1,000 participants from 50 countries, including the United States, are attending the meeting, which will discuss ways for economic development and creating jobs in the Arab world following the revolts that unseated three longtime Arab leaders.

Abdullah said one of the main factors to be considered is creating 85,000 jobs across the region soon to help alleviate poverty and improve living conditions for youth.

"Our region stands today at the gates to the future," Abdullah said, referring to the Arab uprisings. One of those gates, he said, leads "to peace and justice, opening the way out of regional crisis, especially [for the issue] at the heart of the region, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa said recent shifts in the Arab world coupled with a global economic contraction have created a new urgency for decision-makers across the region to review policy to revive economic growth.