His Majesty King Abdullah II has said the Jordanian media should exercise its monitoring role in a frame of responsible freedom and high professionalism.

During a meeting with editors-in-chief of the Jordanian dailies on Wednesday, King Abdullah stressed the need to improve professional performance of journalists through holding training programs to improve their professional skills.

The media should maintain accuracy and objectivity in handling various issues and the national interest should be a top priority as daily papers play a significant role in expressing, the citizens' hopes and aspirations, the King said.

During the meeting, which was attended by Royal Court Minister Samir Rifai, King Abdullah touched upon development of events in the region with special reference to the situation in Iraq and Palestine where he reiterated Jordan's commitment to push the peace process forward and bring it back to normal track to reach a just and comprehensive peace in the region.

The King called upon the international community to exert every possible effort to realize peace in the region and to urge both the Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace talks and to commit themselves to implementing the Road Map which stipulates the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside an Israeli state.

On the Iraqi affairs, King Abdullah reaffirmed Jordan's commitment to territorial integrity of Iraq. " We are supporting the Iraqi government at this stage in it efforts to put an end to the state of anarchy and violence to help create the appropriate circumstances for building strong and united Iraq," King Abdullah said.

Referring to the internal situation, King Abdullah said "We are determined to pursue our efforts to promote sustainable development, which is a top priority, and that is through implementing reform programs that centered on addressing problems f poverty and unemployment and on improving citizens' lives." " We are confident that the programs being implemented will yield the desired fruit," King Abdullah said.

Stressing the necessity for all citizens to take part in the process of economic, political and social development, King Abdullah said " We are determined to build a modern and open Jordan on the basis of democracy, pluralism and moderation."