His Majesty King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed the need to achieve Arab solidarity to best serve the higher interests of the Arab nation and address common challenges.

King Abdullah and Mubarak agreed during a meeting in Aqaba to continue coordination and consultation to enhance joint Arab action and cooperation and develop a unified Arab position to confront various challenges to the nation.

During the meeting President Mubarak briefed King Abdullah on Egypt's efforts to achieve Palestinian national reconciliation through dialogue, which was launched recently in Cairo.

Both leaders stressed the importance of achieving Palestinian harmony so as to fulfill the aspirations of the Palestinian people to an independent state.

President Mubarak also briefed the King on the outcome of yesterday's summit in Riyadh, attended by Saudi, Egyptian, Syrian and Kuwaiti leaders. The summit sought to initiate a new phase of cooperation in the interest of the Arab world.

The talks also touched on bilateral cooperation. Both leaders confirmed their commitment to enhance and build on cooperation in various areas to best serve common interests.

The meeting was attended by Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court Nasser Lozi, His Majesty's adviser Ayman Safadi, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Director of the General Intelligence Department General Mohammad Raqqad. From the Egyptian side, the meeting was attended by Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Chief of the Presidential Staff Zakariah Azmi and Egypt's ambassador to Jordan Amr Abdel Latif.

Following the meeting, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh highlighted the strong relations between the two countries and its leaders in statements to Jordan Television.

“The visit comes at a time of extreme importance, especially after President Mubarak participated in the Riyadh summit and in light of Egypt's efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation through the dialogue taking place among the factions in Cairo,” Judeh said.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit similarly commended the special relations between the two countries and described the meeting as a "periodical event that has to continue."