His Majesty King Abdullah II affirmed the importance of the French and European role in ensuring the success of efforts that aim at putting the peace process back on its normal track. During a meeting at Bait Al Baraka with the French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, His Majesty said that the success of the Israeli withdrawal plan from Gaza depends mainly on implementing it within the road map peace plan, and on fully ending the occupation of all Palestinian lands. The King underlined the importance of helping the Palestinian government in rebuilding the Palestinian institutions and supporting the Palestinian economy.



King Abdullah expressed Jordan's readiness to train members of the Palestinian security and police in coordination with the Palestinian National Authority.



The talks, which were attended by Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dr. Marwan Muasher, Hashemite Royal Court Minister, Sameer Rifai, Planning and International Cooperation Minister, Dr. Basim Awadallah, Jordan's ambassador to France, Dina Qawar and the French ambassador to Jordan, also touched on mechanisms of activating bilateral ties in the political and economic and investment fields.



Discussions also touched on the future of Iraq, in light of preparations being taken to handover power to the Iraqis at the end of this months.



The two sides stressed the importance of giving the Iraqis full sovereignty and supporting efforts of the new Iraqi government to impose security and preserve unity of the Iraqi territories.



The French minister, who is visiting Jordan within a tour to the region, emphasized the positive role played by Jordan in the region, noting keenness of both France and Europe to have distinguished ties with Jordan.



"Both Jordan and France have identical views on the importance of giving momentum to the peace process, and implementing the roadmap peace plan," he added, noting the importance for the Israeli withdrawal plan from Gaza to be part of the road map. Barnier expressed readiness of France and Europe to contribute to rebuilding the Palestinian economy and institutions.



The EU summit, which was held on June 18, expressed willingness to seize the current opportunity, represented in the Israeli withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip, to achieve these goals.



The International Quartet is scheduled to hold a meeting in the Egyptian resort of Taba next Thursday to discuss the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and means of supporting Palestinian institutions.