In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, King Hussein of Jordan transferred his country's claims to the 'Western Bank of the Kingdom' to the PLO. In 1964, the PLO had given up any claims of sovereignty for the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Himma Area. In 1968, with these areas back in Israel's control, they amended their Covenant so that these areas were once again defined as part of a "Palestine" "whose borders were those of the undivided British Mandate of Palestine."
[Note: The original Mandate included the land on both sides of the Jordan River, i.e. Israel and Jordan. The British used Article 25 of the Mandate to separate the land east of the Jordan River and give it instead to EmirAbdullah, who immediately called it "Transjordan". This was in part, payback for Abdullah's father, Sharif Hussein of Mecca, King of Hejaz, allowing Britain in 1922 to take the Sinai Peninsula from Hejaz and attach it to Egypt in 1922, as a means of security for Britain's financial interests in the Suez Canal. Abdullah's brother Faisel was given the Vilayets of Baghdad and Basra, which Faisel combined and called his Kingdom of Iraq.]
The incoming President of the USA, George H. W. Bush, recognized this failure and issued orders in January1989,the month of his inauguration, that "formal contact with the PLO was not permitted". The same year the U.S. Congress voted for PLOCCA.
This set the stage for the Madrid Conference and the 'secret' negotiations that finally led to the exchange of letters of 9 and 10 September 1993 and the subsequent 13 September1993 signing on the lawn of the White House of the Declaration of Principles.
The MadridConference was hosted by the government of Spain and co-sponsored by the USA and the USSR.
The Palestinian team, due to Israeli objections, was initially formally a part of a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation and consisted of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza without open PLO association like Saeb Erekat, Faisal Husseini, Hanan Ashrawi and Haidar Abdel-Shafi, who were however in constant communication with the PLO leadership in Tunis.
The purpose of the conference was to serve as an opening forum for the participants and had no power to impose solutions or veto agreements.
Madrid was the scene of fighting between the Loyalists and rebel forces of Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War; the city was greatly damaged.
Madrid is the capital and the largest city in Spain, as well as in the province and the autonomous community of the same name.
Madrid has also expressed its desire to become an Olympic city, and in that way it became a candidate for the 2012 games, which finally won London after Madrid was eliminated in the third round of the ballot.
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