Amman - Arab stock markets plummeted across the board on Wednesday on reports of a nearing global recession and ambiguity regarding the extent to which regional businesses were involved in the world financial crisis, financial analysts said.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange, the Arab world's largest bourse, fell 3.69 per cent, led by the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and the banking sector.

The dropg brought to more than 10 per cent the decline in the Saudi market this week, a loss that wiped out last week's gains.

Amman - The interior ministers of the countries neighbouring Iraq are due to meet in Amman on Thursday to look into means for helping the Iraqi government restore security.

Amman- Jordan's trade deficit grew by 37.8 per cent in the first eight months of the year, to 4.66 billion dinars (6.58 billion dollars), according to official statistics released on Monday.

That compares with a deficit of 3.381 billion dinars in the same period of 2007.

Economists attribute the widening trade gap mainly to a 35.3 per cent rise in the country's imports, which totaled 8.303 billion dinars in the first eight months of 2008. That compares with a total of
6.39 million dinars in the same period of last year.

Amman  - King Abdullah II of Jordan left Amman on Saturday

Amman - Arab stock markets fluctuated violently this week, reflecting turmoil on the world markets and lack of confidence that measures taken by the world's largest economies could succeed in handling the global financial crisis, financial analysts said Friday.

"We believe that the psychological impact of developments on world markets will continue to be felt in the Middle East bourses for some time to come," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman- based Sanabel International Holding told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.