Jordan Times
Sunday, January 18, 2004
'King, Mubarak expected to meet this week for talks on Palestinian situation'
By Faisal Malkawi
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah is expected to visit Egypt this week for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the Palestinian issue and Iraq, official sources told Al Rai and The Jordan Times on Sunday.King Abdullah and Mubarak will discuss the situation in the occupied territories in light of Israeli practices against the Palestinians. The talks will focus on Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank and ways to reactivate the roadmap to Middle East peace, which envisions an independent Palestinian state by 2005. The two sides will also discuss the latest developments in Iraq, the sources said. Jordan and Egypt filed complaints at the International Court of Justice against the Israeli wall. The court is expected to look into the issue by the end of this month. Jordanian senior officials have repeatedly said that the barrier threatens the Kingdom's national security. The King and Mubarak will also hold talks on Tunis' Arab summit in March.
Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan Mohammad Hijazi said Amman and Cairo are making "remarkable progress in bilateral ties." Hijazi added that the second phase of a joint gas conveyance project will start soon. The interregional economic venture, which the two leaders inaugurated its first phase in July, includes a 270-kilometre pipeline at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion. It will later stretch to Syria and Lebanon by 2005 as well as to Cyprus and Turkey by 2006.
Hijazi said that trade volume between Jordan and Egypt stood at $100 million last year, while a free trade agreement is in its final stages.