AFP, Strasbourg : King Abdullah II of Jordan warned Tuesday that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was essential for combating Islamic extremists, saying the conflict served as a rallying cry for jihadists.Abdullah told the European Parliament that the battle against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria was “first and foremost” a fight for Muslim nations to carry out.Jordan has stepped up its role in the US-led coalition against IS after the group burned to death a captured Jordanian military pilot in a grisly video released last month.But Abdullah said the root problem was the world’s failure to “defend Palestinian rights”.”This failure sends a dangerous message,” he said. “And it has given the extremists a powerful rallying cry. They exploit the injustices and the lingering conflict, to build legitimacy and recruit foreign fighters across Europe and the world.”He added: “How can we fight the ideological battle, if we do not chart the way forward towards Palestinian-Israeli peace?”As a country that has made peace with Israel, Jordan has played a mediating role in the peace process.Around 20,000 foreign fighters are believed to have left their homelands to join extremist groups in the past few years-including an estimated 4,000 since 2012 from western Europe. Abdullah however said that Muslim countries had to lead the fight against IS and other extremists.
