Abdullah, Arafat Stress Need for More Middle East Peace Efforts

Jordanian King Abdullah Bin al-Hussein and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday stressed the need for more effective international efforts to end the 10 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.

During a meeting, held soon after Arafat's arrival, Abdullah and Arafat noted that the world community should further its efforts to resolve the current crisis in the Middle East, Jordan's official Petra news agency reported.

The two leaders also agreed to maintain close contacts to search for the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, Petra said, without elaborating.

Arafat arrived here after a visit to Saudi Arabia during regional tour, aimed at rallying support for convening a special Arab summit to discuss the escalating crisis in the region. He left for Cairo after the brief visit to Jordan.

Petra said that Abdullah briefed Arafat on his telephone conversation earlier in the day with U.S. President George W. Bush on the latest development in the Palestinian territories.

During the telephone conversation, the Jordanian king called on the Bush administration to play a more active and effective role in ending the violence, saying that the situation is "extremely dangerous," according to the news agency.

The Palestinian-Israeli violent clashes have left more than 670 people dead, most of them Palestinians, since last September.






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