US President George W. Bush is planned to meet the Israeli and Palestinian premiers at one summit next week and hold another summit with several Arab heads of states.
The Israeli-Palestinian summit will take place in Jordan, Petra news agency confirmed Tuesday. The US-Arab summit will be held in Egypt. Both summits would take place after Bush attends the G-8 summit of the world's wealthiest countries in Evian, France from June 1-3.
Jordanian Information Minister, Mohammad Affash Adwan, was quoted as saying by Petra that Bush would meet a few Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Jordanian minister conveyed the US leader was also due to attend a separate summit with Sharon and Abbas, in Jordan's resort of Aqaba. Adwan said consultations were under way to "specify the dates of both summits."
Earlier, Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency reported that Bush is likely to meet Arab leaders in Egypt on June 4 before seeing the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in Jordan on June 5.
"It has virtually been decided that President Hosni Mubarak will host an Arab-American summit on June 4 in Sharm el-Sheikh," MENA said.
MENA added that King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Hamad of Bahrain, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia would also attend the summit in Egypt. "A second summit will take place June 5 in Aqaba, Jordan, between Mr. Bush and the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers, Mahmud Abbas and Ariel Sharon," MENA reported. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
