AMMAN –– His Majesty King Abdullah will hold on February 14 a summit meeting with US President Barack Obama, during a working visit to the United States.
Talks, which will take place in California, will focus on the historic friendship and partnership between Jordan and the US, and ways to advance bilateral ties in a way that boosts efforts by the two leaderships to promote peace, prosperity and stability throughout the Middle East, a Royal Court statement said.
The summit will also address opportunities to strengthen US-Jordanian strategic partnership and means to advance political, economic and security cooperation between the two sides. Both leaders will also be consulting and coordinating stands on regional developments, especially the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and efforts exerted by US Secretary of State John Kerry in this regard, along with developments in Syria and the wider Middle East.
In addition to the summit meeting with President Obama, the King will meet in Washington, DC with key administration officials, US congressional leaders and committee members as well as representatives from US Islamic and Jewish organisations.
The visit will follow an official visit by His Majesty to Mexico, upon an invitation by President Enrique Peña Nieto. The King will discuss with the Mexican president and several political and economic leaders ways to strengthen relations in various fields, in addition to Middle East and global issues.
Meeting with Burns
King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed that Jordan’s top priority is safeguarding its higher strategic interests, especially those concerning final status issues.
During a meeting on Wednesday with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the Monarch voiced Jordan’s full support to the US-brokered peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis that “should ultimately lead to the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital on the basis of the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative”, according to a Royal Court statement.
On Syria, the King renewed Jordan’s “unaltered stance that calls for a comprehensive political solution to Syria’s crisis that can safeguard its territorial unity and end the suffering of its people”, highlighting in this regard the burdens on the Kingdom resulting from hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees.
Ways to enhance the Jordanian-US relations in all fields were also discussed during the meeting which was attended by Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, King’s Office Director Imad Fakhoury and US Ambassador to Jordan Stewart E. Jones.
