Leaders of Jordan, Egypt urge "tangible progress" in peace talks

Aug 8, 2010, 22:18 GMT

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak discussed by telephone on Sunday the need to achieve 'tangible progress' in peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, according to a Jordanian statement.

The two leaders discussed 'steps that should be taken to surmount obstacles that so far blocked the accomplishment of tangible progress, in the run-up for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state vision,' the royal court statement said.

Abdullah and Mubarak evaluated their efforts 'to ensure the resumption of serious and effective negotiations' between the Palestinian Authority and Israel with a view to setting up an independent Palestinian state living in peace with the Jewish state.

The statement alluded to the transition from US-brokered proximity talks to direct negotiation, reportedly supported by Egypt and Jordan, which are the only Arab states that have concluded peace treaties with Israel.

Jordan and Egypt were involved over the last week in close contacts to resolve the puzzle of a Grad-type rocket that was fired on August 2 at the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, killing one person and wounding five others. Four other rockets were also reportedly fired on the nearby Israeli port of Eilat, causing no casualties.

Jordanian authorities said that they had evidence that the rocket that fell at Aqaba was fired from Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

The Cairo government at first denied that the rocket was fired from Sinai, but said later that the rocket could have been launched by groups based in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.