Jordanian king meets with Robinson, Solana

The Jordanian King Abdullah II on Tuesday visited the headquarters of the NATO and the European Union in Brussels starting a European tour which will take him also to Strasbourg and London.

A NATO official said that the king held talks with its secretary general George Robinson. He added "the matter basically pertains to exchanging view points between the king and the (NATO) secretary general on issues of general interests and concerning the Euro- Mediterranean dialogue and that the King seized the opportunity to express his on view point concerning the Middle East question."

Then and just for 15 minutes, the king met with the higher representative of the EU foreign policy Javier Solana at the headquarters of the European cabinet in the downtown of Brussels. The two men expressed their support for convening the proposed peace conference despite the doubts expressed by US President George Bush on Monday to the step of forming the new Palestinian government.

The Jordanian king will deliver today a speech on the situation in the Middle East at the European Parliament in Strasbourg where he will be holding talks with the chairman of the European commission Romano Prodi.