In the presence of Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, former US President Bill Clinton Thursday launched the Clinton Global Initiative in New York whose aim is to meet global challenges. According to former President Clinton these challenges constitute the reduction of poverty; the use of religion as a force for reconciliation and conflict resolution; the implementation of new business strategies and technologies to combat climate change; and the strengthening of governance. During the inaugurating session and in the presence of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, King Abdullah called upon the international community and NGOs to help Palestinians and give them hope for a better future. The King noted Jordan's assistance to the Palestinian people in terms of the exchange of educational programs and improving civil service systems, referring to the necessity of the international community's support for Palestinians in order to reduce unemployment and poverty in Gaza as soon as possible. King Abdullah also called upon the Palestinian private sector to work together with the international private sector to implement infrastructure projects in the different Palestinian areas. As for Clinton's reference to the Jordanian experience in benefiting from trade to create job opportunities and achieve economic growth, King Abdullah considered that the Free Trade Agreement with the US had a great social impact and contributed to the increase of Jordanian exports to the US to reach about $1 billion US dollars. His Majesty refused futile attempts to link Islam with violence, reiterating that the Amman Message, launched by Jordan last year, was to clarify the true image of Islam for the majority of Muslims. King Abdullah noted that the International Islamic Conference, which was held in Amman last July, stressed that extremists are outlaws because their harmful deeds affect Muslims themselves and their religious edicts (fatwas) permit them to kill Muslims who don't acquiesce to their ideology. His Majesty called upon Western countries to keep close connections with their Islamic communities in order to make them feel as being an active component of their societies. For his part, British Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated that the best thing that can be done for the Palestinians is to give them hope that the withdrawal from Gaza constitutes the beginning of an independent Palestinian state. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice stressed the importance of uniting international efforts to support developing infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip and to improve living standards for Palestinians. Rice also referred to the success of the Jordanian model in terms of economic openness and trade liberation.