Amman - Jordanian Islamists on Wednesday expressed cautious "optimism" over the policies the new US president Barack Obama was expected to pursue towards the Arab-Israeli conflict, but said the test would be how he was going to behave on the ground.

"We have optimism that Obama will come up with real changes and honour the promises in this respect he had made during his election campaign and in his inaugural speech," Zaki Banir Ershaid, Secretary General of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan will take part in the international summit due to be held at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, the royal court announced Saturday.

The conference was called by the Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak "to discuss the efforts aimed at halting the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege and implementing the UN Security Council Resolution 1860", a royal court statement said.

Amman - Arab stock markets plummeted across the board this week in response to losses incurred by the world's major bourses, the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip and falling oil prices, financial analysts said Friday.

They expected regional markets to suffer further in the coming weeks, amid expectations that upcoming releases of 2008 corporate figures might turn out worse that expected.

Amman - The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, on Thursday rebuked Arab leaders who failed to accept Qatar's invitation for an emergency summit on Friday in Doha to look into steps against Israel for its prolonged offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The IAF charged in a statement that Arab leaders who were trying to block the Arab summit "were colluding with Israel and betraying the blood of hundreds of children and women" killed in the Israeli bombardment over the past 20 days.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan conferred Wednesday with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and stressed the need for the world community to give "immediate priority" to stopping the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, according to a royal court statement.