President in Jordan ahead of Nobel Peace Laureates conference, briefs king on peace negotiations with Palestinians, situation in Gaza Strip and relations with Syria
Ronen Medzini and AFP
President Shimon Peres arrived in Petra on Wednesday morning, where he met with King Abdullah II ahead of the a global conference for Nobel Peace Laureates named 'Petra IV: Reaching for New Economic, Scientific and Educational Horizons.'  
The leaders discussed a series of political and defense-related issues, including the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the indirect negotiations with Syria and the complex situation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.  
Peres is also seeking to promote the 'Valley of Peace' project and the joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian canal. Later in the afternoon Peres is scheduled to speak before the conference guests and then return to Israel nearly immediately.  
Abdullah: Failure to create Palestinian state 'serious mistake'
King Abdullah II warned that failure to create an independent Palestinian state this year would be a "serious mistake," calling for a stable Middle East.  
"It would be a serious mistake to miss the opportunities we have this year to establish, finally, a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state along with a secure and recognized Israel," the king said at the opening of the conference, whose main focus is the global food crisis and other development issues. 
"The Middle East must move out of this threat zone. The single most important step is peace - a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.  
"Throughout Jordan, and across the region, millions of people want to be part of a stable, moderate, modern Middle East. Long after today's conflicts are history, their lives will be shaped by what we did, this year, to build the foundation for the region's success," the king said.
In an interview published on Wednesday by Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper, King Abdullah said the  
Palestinians "will not accept any substitute for their homeland".  
"Israel must realize this fact and acknowledge the existence of the Palestinians and accept the inevitable coexistence with them," he said in the interview, which was also carried by Jordanian newspapers.  
"Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine," the king stressed in the interview, amid fears in Jordan that the kingdom may come under pressure to merge with a rump West Bank if the Palestinians do not win their promised independence.
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