Jordan's King Abdullah II visited the Red Sea city of Jeddah for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah focused on the Palestinian territories and Iraq, an official source said.
The Jordanian monarch and Crown Prince Abdullah reviewed "the massacre (of the Palestinians), the blockade, the destruction of facilities and the incursions into Palestinian territories, as well as efforts to bring a fair settlement in the region," the official SPA news agency said.
They also examined the "situation in the Arab and Islamic world and bilateral cooperation," SPA said. The Jordanian ambassador to Riyadh, Hani Mustafa Khalifa, told AFP King Abdullah would also review the "situation in Iraq in light of threats of strikes" by the United States. After the meeting, Jordan's king departed the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia urged all parties involved in the Middle East crisis to adopt a "responsible" position to achieve peace, but reiterated that Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands remains the root cause of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Crown Prince Abdullah "indicated that achieving peace requires a responsible stance from all parties, backed by the international community which declared its condemnation of all forms of violence and destruction," a statement carried by the official SPA news agency said.
In Amman, a cabinet official said Monday U.S. troops would hold military maneuvers in Jordan to help develop the Jordanian army's defense capabilities. The two-week mock war games are scheduled to begin next week in southern Jordan, Information Minister Mohammad Affash Adwan told The Associated Press.
Such military exercises are usually conducted in a desert military base in Qatraneh, 100 kilometers south of the Jordanian capital Amman. The Jordanian minister added the maneuvers "are part of routine, annual exercises conducted with friendly and brotherly countries."
"After the two-week period, the American forces will leave Jordan," Adwan said, underlining official efforts to prevent the war games from being linked to preparations for a possible U.S. military action against Iraq. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
