Pope John Paul II, King Abdullah welcome positive atmosphere for Middle East peace

The Vatican has announced that Pope John Paul II and Jordan's King Abdullah Bin Hussein discussed the Middle East peace process during their meeting on Saturday in Castelgandolfo, the summer residence of the pope.

The Jordanian monarch and his wife, Queen Rania, arrived in Rome on Friday and headed to the Pope's summer residence just 30 km north of the Italian capital.

The Pope held a closed-door meeting with the king, and the two welcomed the new positive atmosphere in the peace process following the signing of the Israeli - Palestinian agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh on September 5.

The Vatican said the pope expressed his desire to visit certain religious sites in the Middle East.

This is the first meeting between the pope and the Jordanian king, who assumed the throne in February following the death of his father, King Hussein.