Jordan, Egypt leaders to attend ME talks launch
Published: Aug 22, 2010 00:13 Updated: Aug 22, 2010 00:13
AMMAN/CAIRO: Jordanian King Abdallah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have accepted an invitation by the United States to attend the launch of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians that aim to forge a peace deal within 12 months, Jordanian and Egyptian state news agencies reported on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with President Barack Obama on Sept. 1, with direct negotiations resuming the following day.
The talks will be the first direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 20 months.
Clinton?s announcement was echoed by the Quartet of Mideast peace mediators ? the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations ? which issued its own invitation to the talks and underscored a deal could be reached within a year.
The statement on the Petra news agency on Saturday said King Abdullah would hold a bilateral meeting with Obama.
?The talks...will revolve around the steps necessary to be taken to ensure the negotiations reach their aim in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution,? the statement said.
Mubarak ?welcomed the announcement by the Quartet and confirmed his acceptance of the invitation from President Obama to participate in the launch of direct negotiations at the start of next month in Washington,? the state daily Al-Ahram reported.