Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with Jordan's King Abdullah II here Sunday to discuss the renewed clashes in the Palestinian territories despite a fresh cease-fire agreement, palace officials told AFP.
The Jordanian monarch was also expected to brief Arafat on his discussions with US President George W. Bush in Washington on Friday, where he lobbied for a "fair" solution to the Middle East conflict, a government official added.
Abdullah asked Bush to "intensify efforts to find a fair and peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" amid US efforts to fight terrorism after the September 11 attacks, the government official said.
Abdullah received "assurances" from Bush that he would, the official said.
Shortly after the hijacked jetliner attacks on New York and Washington, Abdullah argued that they would "not have happened if problems in the Middle East, notably the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, had been solved."
Arafat arrived in Jordan after meeting with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in Cairo, where he said he had decided against suspending talks with Israel despite accusing the Jewish state of deliberately escalating its war on the Palestinians.
Arafat also said his aides Saeb Erakat and Ahmed Qorei were to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the Gaza Strip later on Sunday -- AMMAN (AFP)
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