On al-Assad - King Abdullah summit

The meeting held between Bashar al-Assad (son of President al-Assad) and the Jordanian King Abdullah has added an extra dimension to the Syrian-Jordanian comprehensive meetings which were presided over by President al-Assad and King Abdullah, during which two close-door meetings were held.

In a remarkable step, the Syrian news agency SANA said that Bashar al-Assad visited on Wednesday night, King Abdullah in his residence and that during the meeting views were exchanged on several debated issues. Jordanian sources told well-informed sources in Damascus that the "remarkable relations" established between King Abdullah and Bashar (34) add "a special dimension to the bilateral relations between the two countries," adding that King Abdullah finds in the son of the Syrian President " an ambitious project for renewal " and a strategist of a unique type who matches to a great extent with his father President al-Assad.

In the plenary session which was presided over by the Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Zou'bi and his Jordanian counterpart Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh the two premiers agreed to convene the meeting of the higher committee by the end of May. Official sources in Damascus quoted al-Rawabdeh as saying that the Wadi Araba agreement which was " imposed on Jordan " due to certain conditions will never be at the expense of Syria.

Replying to a question raised by one Jordanian press man who accompanied the King in his trip back from Damascus to Amman, on the extent of the impact of the relation with Damascus on that with Israel, the King said: " We are a country open to all." He added he will hold a tour next month. The tour, he continued, will cover the US, France, Germany, and Belgium. He added that no invitation was extended to him from Israel. Concerning Iraq, the Jordanian King said " we feel the sufferings of the Iraqi people." He added that the Jordanian view points in this matter " is identical with that held by our brothers in Syria."