Jordan king hosts leaders of UAE, Egypt and Iraq for rare meeting

Jordan s King Abdullah II hosted leaders from Egypt, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates on Friday for "consultative" talks, state media said. The meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba was "consultative", according to state television.

An official source requesting anonymity told AFP that the "consultative brotherly meeting dealt with recent international and regional developments". The source did not elaborate.

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A statement from the royal court said others in attendance included Jordan s Crown Prince Hussein and Saudi Minister of State Prince Turki bin Mohammad bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz.

The meeting comes just a day before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria to discuss the Ukraine war, Israeli-Palestinian relations and Iran.

Israel said it would host a "historic summit" from Sunday of top diplomats from the United States and three Arab states with which it has normalised ties -- the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.

Earlier in the week, Egypt hosted the Israeli and UAE leaders for unprecedented three-way talks as Russia s invasion of Ukraine rocks energy and food markets and major powers inch toward a revived Iran nuclear deal.

The summit was held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh between Sisi, the Abu Dhabi crown prince and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Analyst Oraib al-Rantawi, head of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, said "most" of the parties to Friday s meeting in Jordan are "historic allies and friends of Washington but are linked to Moscow through deep ties and interests".