A message from Clinton to King Abdullah of Jordan

Jordanian King Abdullah bin al-Hussein on Thursday received a message from US President Bill Clinton and a telephone call from the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, dedicated for the expected summit on the Middle East due to be held next week in the USA, according to the Jordanian news agency Petra.

In a telephone call with Arafat, the Jordanian King stressed Jordan's full backing to the efforts made by the Palestinians to announce their own independent state.

The agency said that " the Jordanian King received a telephone call from Arafat during which talks dealt with latest developments pertaining to the ME peace process, especially in light of the tripartite summit to be held next week."

The Jordanian king expressed his hope that this summit between the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the US President Bill Clinton on July 11 in Camp David tangible results to achieving peace in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, the US secretary of state Madeleine Albright made a telephone call with the Jordanian King Abdullah and with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to inform them on recent developments concerning the tripartite summit.

Petra said the Jordanian foreign minister Abdul Illah al-Khatib also praised the summit, noting that this summit avails a good chance to attain a progress in the Palestinian- Israeli peace negotiations.

Al-Khatib stressed Jordan's backing to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish their own independent state.