Jordanian Prime Minister Mr. Abdel Ra'ouf Al Rawabdeh categorically denied a report appearing in the Israeli newspaper Ma'arev today concerning Jordan's willingness to rehabilitate and absorb some one million Palestinian refugees in Jordan.

The Ma'arif report alleges that Jordan's Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdel-Ilah Al-Khatib had visited Israel secretly a few weeks ago and expressed Jordan's willingness to rehabilitate and absorb the Palestinian refugees in Jordan in exchange for an international grant of US$ 7b. Mr. Rawabdeh in a phone discussion with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi described this report as being entirely false and affirmed that the Jordanian position has always been consistent with international law and in support of Palestinian rights, particularly in such a crucial and serious issue, that of the Palestinian refugees.

Mr. Rawabdeh also stressed Palestinian-Jordanian coordination and close ties, particularly in the context of joint positions related to final status talks.

Miftah reiterates its appreciation of Prime Minister Rawabdeh's position and calls upon all Palestinian and Arab decision makers and peoples as a whole to confront any Israeli attempts at distortion and disinformation, and to publicly adopt unified policies in support of Palestinian rights and international law in relation to all final status issues.