His Majesty King Abdullah II arrived back home on Wednesday following a brief visit to the United Kingdom during which he held talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the Iraqi crisis and the situation in the Palestinian areas.

Immediately upon his arrival, King Abdullah accompanied by Queen Rania left the airport for a tour in Amman, where their Majesties inspected rescue operations and aid work being carried out the by Public Work Ministry, Public Security Department, Armed Forces personnel, the Civil Defense Department and Amman Municipality, who have been working around the clock to keep the streets open for the traffic and rescue people, who were caught by snow falling. A snowstorm has left public life almost in a halt for two consecutive days.

During the tour, King Abdullah visited the Civil Defense Department operation room and Amman Municipality and enquired about aid operations and services offered to citizens.

In London, King Abdullah and Blair made it clear that Jordan and Britain were in favour of a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis stressing the necessity to give peace a last chance to avert dangers of a destructive war. In this respect, they said Jordan and Britain exert every possible effort to bring in a peaceful settlement. They also called upon Iraq to be more cooperative with the international teams of arm inspection and to comply with the Security Council 1441.

On the stalled Middle East peace process, the King and Blair underlined the need to intensify international efforts to resume peace talks with the aim of reaching a just and lasting settlement that could secure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel with secured borders.