His Majesty King Abdullah II on Monday stressed the necessity to mobilize Arab and international efforts to further pressure Israel to pull out its troops immediately from Palestinian towns and lift the siege on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

During a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, attended by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Al Hussein , Chief of the Royal Court and the Foreign Minister, King Abdullah noted the efforts carried out by Jordan and Egypt to render the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell`s mission in the region successful. Further more the king underlined the need to coordinate all efforts to put a stop to the ordeal of the Palestinian people.

King Abdullah stressed that efforts at this stage should focus on offering protection to the Palestinian people and coercing Israel to halt its aggression, withdraw from the Palestinian territories and to implement the relevant United Nations resolutions.