Amman – The leaders of Jordan and Syria on Monday set Israel’s evacuation from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War as prerequisite for establishment of peace in the region.The remark was made during a whirlwind visit to Damascus by Jordan’s King Abdullah and talks with Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, which focused on the latest developments in the region including the outcome of the monarch’s meeting on April 21 with US President Barack Obama.

Obama expressed strong support for the two-state solution and the Arab peace initiative, which offers Israel recognition by all Arab states if it quits all Arab territories it currently occupies, including East Jerusalem.

The two Arab leaders said that “any comprehensive settlement should provide for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution and regaining all occupied Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territories within the framework of the provisions of the Arab peace initiative and relevant references,” according to the official Petra news agency.

Abdullah and al-Assad stressed the need for “forging a unified Arab stand to deal with all regional issues and face common challenges.”

Among those challenges, diplomats said, was the arrival to power in Israel of a right-wing government that so far has failed to endorse the two-state vision and has instead offered Palestinians “economic peace.”

Since his return from Washington, the Jordanian head of state was involved in moves involving meetings with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (dpa)