DUBAI, Aug 3 (AFP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II harshly criticised the Palestinian leadership Tuesday for what he said were its shifting demands, and called for urgent reform at the top to allow the peace process to proceed.
"We want the Palestinian leadership to declare clearly what it wants and not surprise us every now and then with some decisions or by accepting things that it did not accept before," the king told Al-Arabiya satellite television in an interview to be aired at 1830 GMT.
"It is unfortunate to see that what had been rejected, or considered as treachery if accepted, has unfortunately come to be seen by some people as a great achievement," he said.
"The Palestinians should tell us how to help them.
"In the beginning, the issue was about the return of 98 percent of occupied Palestinian territories, then it became about less than 50 percent of this land and we don't know what the percentage will be in a year or two.
"As for the (Palestinian) refugees, the issue was about return and compensation, then it became about the return of a small percentage of them."
The king said that the internationally drafted Middle East peace roadmap, launched amid great fanfare last year but as yet unimplemented, provided an opportunity that the Palestinians needed to seize if they were to obtain their promised state.
"The Palestinian leadership is now asked more than ever before to seize the opportunity to achieve peace through the roadmap.
"This requires courage and a comprehensive review by the Palestinian leadership ... and requires the correction of errors that people use as a pretext to put the blame on the Palestinian side," he said.
"The world today speaks of multiple Palestinian (leaderships) and security agencies, as well as the absence of institutions, and uses these misgivings as justifications and pretexts to blame the Palestinian side.
"The Palestinian leadership is requested to take decisions that would convince the world to deal with it as a leadership with a clear vision and a unified institutionalized authority," he said.
Reform would allow the "the world to deal with it as a true partner for reaching a final settlement on the basis of the exchange of land for peace" enshrined in UN resolutions.