The emergency Middle East summit in Egypt on Monday aimed at halting Israeli-Palestinian clashes was proving "extremely difficult", Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdel-Ilah al-Khatib told AFP.
"The questions being discussed here are extremely sensitive and require a strong political will and serious action," Khatib said in a telephone call from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where the summit was taking place.
"The situation in Sharm el-Sheikh is extremely difficult," he said.
The foreign minister was accompanying Jordan's King Abdullah II at the critical summit hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was also attended by US President Bill Clinton, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the European Union's top diplomat, Javier Solana.
Khatib said a meeting of foreign ministers was underway in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss "the drafting of the summit's final statement", but it was too soon to draw any conclusions.
"We realize we are facing huge challenges. This summit could be the last-chance summit," he warned – AMMAN (AFP)
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