AMMAN, Oct 26 (AFP) - Jordanian unions and opposition leaders urged the government Tuesday to tear up the landmark peace treaty signed with Israel 10 years ago to the day, as some protestors burnt US and Israeli flags.
"The peace treaty is nul and void. It does not exist and we should not abide by it," said Jordanian Bar Association head Hussein Mjalli. "The only path we should take is armed struggle against the enemy and the occupation (Israel)."
As Mjalli spoke, two men torched Israeli and US flags as about 150 people, including union and opposition leaders, joined a protest in Amman, with banners calling for the cancellation of the treaty signed on October 26, 1994.
"For your sake Jordan we resist normalisation with the Zionist enemy," one banner said.
Jordan is only the second Arab country to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, after Egypt in 1979, but relations have cooled since the outbreak four years ago of the Palestinian intifada or uprising against Israel occupation.
Israel seized east Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war.
Veteran Jordanian opposition leader Leith Shbeilat charged that the treaty had not brought any benefits for Jordan.
"If people were allowed to express themselves, the government would have learned that the people don't share their opinion concerning this treaty," he said.
Earlier, Jordan and Israel renewed their commitment to the "strategic" pact, in separate commentaries by Jordan's former foreign minister Marwan Moasher and Israeli ambassador Yacov Hadas Handelsman.
"This peace treaty was and still remains a strategic choice for Jordan," Moasher, who was appointed deputy prime minister in a government reshuffle on Sunday, wrote in the Jordan Times.
"Jordan will remain committed to the spirit and letter of the treaty which it intends to uphold and consolidate for the mutual benefit of both nations," he said.
But Moasher said improved ties depended on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
"It is obvious that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict needs to be settled for peace to evolve in the Middle East... in the hope of a more amicable and normal future," he said.
"Jordan's main objective is a two-state solution, leading to the emergence of an independent and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the state of Israel."
The Israeli ambassador also said his country wanted better ties with Jordan, which recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv in September 2000 to protest at Israel's use of "excessive force" against the Palestinian uprising.
"With regard to the potential in our relations, indeed the sky is the limit. The foundations of those relations are solid, wide and genuine," he said, stressing that Israel's commitment to peace with Jordan was "absolute".
Handelsman acknowledged Amman's concern but stressed that "the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not come at Jordan's cost".
He also termed as "regrettable" the repeated calls by Jordanian Islamists, trade unions and opposition groups for a boycott of Israel.
10/26/2004 14:16 GMT - AFP