His Majesty King Abdullah held here on Sunday talks with Bahraini King Hamad Ben Isa Al Khalifa that focused on enhancing cooperation between the two countries in the economic, investment and military fields.

The two leaders stressed at the meeting that the two sides are moving ahead in “confident steps to strengthen cooperation in bilateral relations.”

They also discussed the situation in Palestine and Iraq and underlined the need for Arab and international parties to take joint action to stop the Israeli practices and end the Israeli military siege on the Ramallah offices of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

The two leaders voiced their deep concern as to the grave developments in the Palestinian territories, and stressed the need to work for halting the cycle of violence and resort to negotiations as the way out of the crisis.

The King and the Bahraini ruler also voiced their hope that Iraq's acceptance to readmit UN weapons inspectors would defuse the tension in the region.

King Hamad held a dinner banquet in honour of King Abdullah. Earlier, they attended a military drill performed by a special forces unit in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The two sides agreed at the talks later to exchange military expertise.