His Majesty King Abdullah II and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad held intensive talks on Wednesday on bilateral relations and major Arab issues particularly the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian areas.



The two leaders underlined the necessity to revive the stalled Middle East peace process and to put an end to the cycle of violence in the Palestinian land together with Israeli practices against the Palestinians.



Both leaders also expressed concern over developments in Iraq and urged a "bigger role for the United Nations in Iraq in the coming period," They also called for speeding up measures to convene the Arab summit, that was abruptly called off by host Tunisia last month.



The talks held over a luncheon meeting attended by Jordanian and Syrian high-ranking officials, touched on ways to further develop bilateral relations in various fields.



Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher described the talks as very positive.



"We are fully satisfied with the outcome of the discussions. It is clear that the atmosphere now is heading toward a successful summit, God willing," Muasher told reporters.



The two sides voiced willingness to overcome the difficulties that may impede a complete Arab consensus on all the topics on the summit agenda as prepared by the Arab League Foreign Ministers, he added.



Muasher said the issue of the three vehicles filled with explosives that allegedly entered Jordan from Syria was raised during the 90-minute discussion because "we are sure that Syria has nothing to do with the terror plot and interrogations are still underway."



The Minister dismissed a Syrian demand that it wanted Jordan to play a mediation role with the United States. " Such an issue was not discussed though we always affirmed that disagreements can only be solved through dialogue," he said In reply to a question on the postponed Arab summit, Muasher said the atmosphere now heralds convening a successful summit. Tunis has extended a new invitation to the summit, probably to be held in May, but that Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was "active in making contacts with all Arab countries to have consensus on the venue and the date that have not been decided yet."



What is more important is to reach a consensus on the summit topics and a date for convening it so soon, he told reporters. Muasher also echoed the concern over the situation in Iraq. Everybody is concerned over what is going on there, he said.



He said His Majesty King Abdullah II will discuss developments in Iraq when he meets U.S. President George W. Bush in the United States later this month.



On bilateral relations, Muasher said the two sides were keen on strengthening bilateral cooperation particularly in economic spheres. King Abdullah and President Assad inaugurated Al Wahdah Dam project, a joint giant water project on the Yarmuk River. A host of joint projects are planned between the two the two countries.



President Assad who flew in from Qatar earlier Wednesday returned home concluding a brief visit to Jordan.