Jordan's King Abdullah II flew to Egypt on Sunday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the latest developments in the Arab-Israeli peace process, officials said.
The visit will last only a few hours during which Mubarak is expected to brief the monarch on his meeting in Washington with US President Bill Clinton at the end of March.
The two Arab leaders are also due to exchange views on how to revive the troubled peace process, which is facing a stalemate on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks.
The visit comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region linked to plans by Israel to carry out a unilateral military withdrawal from Lebanon by July.
Abdullah is due back in Amman later in the day for talks with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who is touring the region.
MUBARAK MEETS MUSHARRAF
Pakistan's leader, General Pervez Musharraf, and President Mubarak held talks Saturday and will meet again Sunday morning, an official source said.
Their meeting Saturday took place two hours after Musharraf arrived in Cairo for a three-day visit. Neither man made any comment after the session.
Musharraf said in a statement issued before the meeting that his visit is intended to boost economic and other ties with Egypt to help both countries "face the coming challenges."
"The ties between the two countries are rooted in shared faith, values and are characterized by commonality of interests," the statement said.
"It is therefore natural for the two to enhance their mutual cooperation and release its full potential, particularly in the economic field," said Musharraf, who was wearing a beige suit rather than a military uniform.
"Given the important role the two countries play in their respective regional settings, increased cooperation between them will augment their ability to respond to the coming challenges faced by them," he said.
The statement, which was distributed by the Pakistani embassy, did not spell out what the challenges were for each country.
Musharraf, who toppled Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif in October last year, was also to meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel Meguid.
And he was to hold talks with the sheikh of Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi.
During his visit, Musharraf was also to discuss the Middle East peace process, events in southeast Asia, and the results of the G-77 summit in Cuba, which he attended, according to Egypt's MENA news agency – (AFP) – Photos AFP and AFP Archive.
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