King Abdullah II of Jordan, accompanied by Queen Rania, will pay a two-day visit to Paris May 7-8 to hold high-level talks with senior government officials, the French Foreign Ministry announced on Friday, cited by the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.
The Jordanian monarch will be received at the Elysee Palace by President Jacques Chirac for talks on bilateral relations and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
France has expressed support for the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, and the French government has particularly praised the role of King Abdullah in seeking to end the conflict.
"France, like its European Union partners, supports the efforts of those working to calm the Middle East (situation) and praises the action taken, in particular, by Jordan in bringing closer the positions of the protagonists and seeking a way out of the crisis," spokesman François Rivasseau said at the French foreign ministry.
Besides meeting with Chirac, the king will hold talks with Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
On bilateral relations, Rivasseau noted that France was the leading investor in Jordan, and that both sides would review their cooperation 18 months after the state visit to France of the Jordanian king.
In another development, the Prime Minister of the German state of Bavaria is due to arrive on Saturday in Amman for a two-day official visit, according to the official Petra news agency.
The German official is expected to hold talks with senior Jordanian officials on regional political issues and economic ties between Jordan and Bavaria, said Petra -- Albawaba.com
