TOKYO (Agencies) — Japan on Thursday reaffirmed to King Abdullah its commitment to efforts promoting peace in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said.

At a meeting, Foreign Minister Taro Aso told the King, who was in Tokyo to discuss the chaos in the Palestinian territories and Iraq, that Japan planned to keep supporting initiatives such as the “Peace and Prosperity Corridor”, Agence France-Presse quoted a statement as saying.

Under the plan, proposed by then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi on a visit to the Middle East in July, Japan would develop the West Bank and build an agro-industrial park there in cooperation with Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The King hailed the project, saying it would help alleviate economic pressures on the Palestinians.

Aso said the “corridor” needed a stable and secure climate to succeed, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. “Foreign Minister Aso said Japan will stay proactively involved in building stability in the Middle Eastern region,” according to the statement.

During the meeting, King Abdullah reiterated the need for more international efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Monarch said a solution to the conflict will pave the way for the settlement of other problems in the region. He called on Tokyo to play a bigger role in efforts to restore peace and stability to the Middle East and enhance regional development, particularly in the Palestinian territories.

The Monarch reviewed Jordan’s endeavours to bring Palestinians and Israelis back to negotiations, saying that talks should help lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace with Israel.

The King, meanwhile, said Jordan supported the political process in Iraq, hoping that the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki would succeed in ending sectarian violence. The international community, particularly Japan, should continue their support for Iraq and help rebuild its institutions, he told Aso.

Also Thursday, King Abdullah separately met with Koizumi and Chairman of the Japanese-Jordanian Parliamentary Friendship Society Nobutaka Machimura.

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