Jordan's King Asks Rice to Step Up Efforts to Revive Mideast Talks
20 February 2007
Jordan's King Abdullah has urged visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to step up efforts to revive the Middle East peace talks.
The king issued a statement Tuesday, saying the people of the region look towards the United States to play a major role by creating the necessary atmosphere for resuming negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Rice's trip to Amman marked her last stop on a Middle East visit to look at ways to restart the talks. She also met with the security chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.
She is now heading to Berlin to brief the so-called Mideast Quartet, composed of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States.
Rice met Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but reported no breakthroughs.
Mr. Abbas' Fatah movement and the ruling Hamas party agreed earlier this month on a unity government, ending more than two years of fighting. The unity accord does not require Hamas to recognize Israel or renounce violence - two major U.S. and Israeli demands for reviving peace talks and badly-needed financial aid to the Palestinian government.
Mr. Abbas said Tuesday that his talks with Rice and the Israeli prime minister on Monday were tense but not a failure.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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