Final talks between Sharon and Prince Hassan

Israeli Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday ended talks with Jordan's crown prince on ways of pushing ahead common development projects to cement their peace accord, officials said.

Crown Prince Hassan chaired Jordan's team in the brief half-day visit which comes after several recent postponements, primarily due to Jordanian sensitivities about hosting the Israel minister most widely known for his hawkish views on settling Arab-Israeli conflict.

The official state agency Petra quoted the crown price as stressing "the need to achieve progress in Israel-Palestinian talks and specifically the work of various committees to implement the interim stage in order to pave the way for serious final status talks," Al Ahrar daily reported today.

Sharon briefed Crown Prince Hassan on his evaluation of a round of peace talks held last week in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, it said.