Amman - Two senior Jordanian officials left Amman for Damascus Tuesday on a fence-mending trip, officials said.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and the Royal Court Chief Nasser Lawzi are scheduled to relay a message from King Abdullah II to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "which pertains to latest developments in the region and means of boosting bilateral ties," a royal court statement said.

The trip of the two Jordanian officials to Damascus is seen as part of intensive contacts now underway among key Arab states to handle the deep rift that developed in Arab ranks during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip in January and pave the ground for the regular Arab summit in Doha at the end of March, diplomats said.

Relations between Jordan and Syria appeared to cool when the two states sided with rival Arab camps during the war of summits that erupted at the height of the Israeli incursion in Gaza.

Jordan, one of the so-called moderate Arab states, declined to attend the Doha summit that was called by Qatar to consider moves against Israel, including a breakoff of political ties with the Jewish state. Syria and other hard-line countries attended the Doha meeting.

Syria was excluded from the recent Sharm el-Sheikh summit which was attended by Jordan, other moderate Arab states and European leaders. (dpa)