Amman: Jordan's King Abdullah held talks in Amman on Sunday with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on the imminent relaunch of direct Palestinian-Israeli inian peace talks, the palace said.
"The meeting focused on efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and ensure a just, comprehensive and permanent peace in the region," a palace statement said.
"The king and Barak discussed steps that should be taken to help the Palestinians and Israel succeed in their direct talks in Washington."
The administration of US President Barack Obama will relaunch direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in Washington on Thursday, following months of proximity talks during which US Middle East ambassador George Mitchell shuttled between the parties.
Abdullah, whose country signed a 1994 peace treaty with Israel, told Israel's Barak that the negotiations "should be dealt with in a serious way."
"Achieving peace in the Middle East is of strategic interest for the region and the world," the statement quoted the king as saying.
Thursday's meeting will launch the first direct negotiations between the two sides since the Palestinians broke off talks in December 2008 after Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The king was to leave on Sunday for London en route to Washington, where he will attend Obama's White House dinner on September 1, on the eve of the Palestinian-Israeli talks, a senior Jordanian official told AFP.
The talks will be held at the State Department in the presence of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he added.
King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has also been invited to Washington, will not take part in the negotiations, the official said.
Barak's visit comes nearly a month after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with the king in Amman.
