His Majesty King Abdullah and King of Bahrain Hamad Ben Issa Al Khalifa on Wednesday urged a higher degree of Arab solidarity to hammer out a unified Arab position on challenges facing the nation.

At a meeting in Manama on Wednesday, the two leaders discussed means to bolster bilateral relations and efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, stressing the importance of fostering joint Arab action.

Discussions, which continued over a lunch banquet, covered efforts to kick-start serious and effective negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with the two-state solution and within a regional context to achieve comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.

King Abdullah briefed the Bahraini leader on the outcome of his April visit to the US and his talks with US President Barack Obama and top aides on re-starting peace talks as soon as possible in accordance with the relevant terms of reference and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.