His Majesty King Abdullah II and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns on Saturday discussed steps of the coming phase aimed at resuming Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

During a meeting attended by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Al Hussein Prime Minister, Royal Court Chief and Foreign Minister, King Abdullah and Burns reviewed main features of the action plan that has been worked out by the international Quartet Committee and discussed recently in Paris.

The action plan, which Burns informed the King about, includes commitments by all the parties involved and a mechanism for monitoring their performance all along the negotiation period, whose main result would be the founding of a Palestinian state within a three-year period, the issue that Jordan has insisted on during talks with members of the Quartet Committee.

King Abdullah stressed the necessity to restart the negotiation as soon as possible and prepare the appropriate atmosphere to enable the Palestinians and the Israelis to fulfill their commitments as determined by the plan of action.

Talks during the meeting also covered the current situation in in the region with special reference to the Iraqi issue.