Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II conferred Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehuld Olmert and urged the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach a peace treaty before the end of the year.

Olmert paid a whirlwind visit to Jordan as part of Abdullah's efforts to get Israel and the Palestinians to speed up their stalled negotiations on core issues - Jerusalem, the settlements, the frontiers and refugees - according to a royal court statement.

"The monarch stressed the need for reaching an agreement before the end of the year based on the two-state formula and in accordance with the commitments made by the two parties during the Annapolis conference in November," the statement said.

Abdullah also told Olmert that Israel "should improve the living circumstances of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip", a reference to the
11-month-old siege imposed on the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip.

The meeting followed summit talks at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week between Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarakat which thay called for a "tangible progress" in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abdullah visited Washington last week, where he held talks with US President George W Bush to appraise the outcome of peace talks so far between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also met with Bush in Washington last week, apparently failed to convince the US president to put pressure on Israel to conduct fruitful negotiations, according to Palestinian diplomats. dpaAmman - Jordan's King Abdullah II conferred Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehuld Olmert and urged the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach a peace treaty before the end of the year.

Olmert paid a whirlwind visit to Jordan as part of Abdullah's efforts to get Israel and the Palestinians to speed up their stalled negotiations on core issues - Jerusalem, the settlements, the frontiers and refugees - according to a royal court statement.

"The monarch stressed the need for reaching an agreement before the end of the year based on the two-state formula and in accordance with the commitments made by the two parties during the Annapolis conference in November," the statement said.

Abdullah also told Olmert that Israel "should improve the living circumstances of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip", a reference to the
11-month-old siege imposed on the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip.

The meeting followed summit talks at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week between Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarakat which thay called for a "tangible progress" in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abdullah visited Washington last week, where he held talks with US President George W Bush to appraise the outcome of peace talks so far between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also met with Bush in Washington last week, apparently failed to convince the US president to put pressure on Israel to conduct fruitful negotiations, according to Palestinian diplomats. (dpa)