Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday held talks with Pakistan's military ruler eneral Pervez Musharraf who arrived on an official visit to the Kingdom for talks that focused on bilateral relations and the current situation in the peace process, reported the Jordan Times newspaper, quoting a Royal Court source as saying.
He told the daily that bilateral ties focused on trade and economic aspects and ways of expanding other areas of cooperation.
The official said talks between King Abdullah and General Musharraf also dealt with recent developments in the region, particularly the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
"The two sides expressed their support for the Palestinian people and their commitment to achieving a comprehensive peace," the official told the Jordan Times.
"The meeting offers a prime opportunity for His Majesty and General Musharraf to explore ways to accelerate the mechanism of economic cooperation between the two countries," he added.
Musharraf, who arrived in Amman from Syria, as part of a regional tour that will take him also to Lebanon, is expected to leave Jordan on Tuesday.
Pakistani Ambassador Tariq Fatemi told the Jordan Times in a previous interview that further promoting military cooperation between the two sides also features high on General Musharraf's meeting schedule with Jordanian officials.
Official figures showed that the trade volume between Amman and Islamabad last year amounted to $20 million, with Jordanian exports of phosphate and potash in return for Pakistani-made textiles, according to the daily.
In 1998, the two sides established a multi-million dollar factory in the mining industry.
Jordanian and Pakistani military officials have been training in each other's capitals for the past 50 years.
Musharraf's visit to Jordan was the first since he took power last year in a military coup.
During his visit to Syria, the Pakistani ruler held talks with President Bashar Assad and Prime Minister Mustafa Mero.
The two countries signed six agreements of cooperation covering industry, science, technology, agriculture and news, with an arrangement between the Syrian and Pakistani news agencies, SANA and APP, reported AFP -- (Several Sources)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
