WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush and Jordanian King Abdullah will meet Thursday to discuss Middle East peace and the conflict in Iraq, the White House said.
King Abdullah is a key player in the president's road map to peace in the Middle East, which has been derailed by Israeli intransigence on settlements and its security fence and by Palestinian inability to crack down on terrorists.
The White House said the meeting was taking advantage of a private visit to the United States by the Jordanian monarch.
In Switzerland Monday Palestinian and Israeli peace activists unveiled an unofficial peace plan that would allow Israel to keep 25 percent of Jewish settlements erected on Palestinian lands and which would designate East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Israel Ariel Sharon and Palestinian militants have dismissed the initiative, dubbed the Geneva Accords.
Washington has said the accords could be useful but insists Bush's road map remains the primary vehicle to peace in the region.
