French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was expected to hold talks in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher on the second leg of a regional tour he started in Egypt.
Barnier, who arrived in Amman late Monday, will hold a joint news conference with Moasher at the foreign ministry before returning to Paris later in the day, officials said.
His talks will deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the situation in Iraq ahead of the transfer of sovereignty from the US-led occupation to Iraqis and a US-backed initiative for reform in the Middle East.
"I chose to begin my tour in the Middle East in Egypt and Jordan because they are the first two countries who made peace with Israel," Barnier said Monday.
Meanwhile, in Cairo, Barnier said France, and Europe as a whole, was ready to back an Egyptian initiative to guarantee security in the Gaza Strip after an expected Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.
"We have stated our availability to take part, at the appropriate moment, including through an international presence whose format remains to be determined", he told a news conference, flanked by his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher.
Egypt has offered to dispatch up to 200 personnel to the Gaza Strip to train a 30,000-strong police force to maintain security in the territory during and after next year's promised Israeli pullout.
Barnier is expected to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah on June 29-30 and visit Israel at a unspecified date. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
