CAIRO, August 23, 2018 - Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri received a phone call from his Jordanian counterpart Aymen el Safadi during which the two top diplomats discussed means of pushing forward the Middle East peace-making process, a spokesman said on Thursday. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Shoukri and el-Safadi discussed encouraging the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume the peace talks. During the phone conversation, Shoukri briefed his Jordanian opposite number about the results of his latest visit to Washington, where he held talks with Trump Administration officials about the resumption of the Middle East peace negotiations between the Arabs and Israel, Abu Zeid said. He said that the Shoukri-Safadi phone conversation had also dealt with the present difficult financial status of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees). The two foreign ministers discussed how Egypt and Jordan could coordinate their efforts to help UNRWA assume its duties towards the Palestinian refugees, Abu Zeid said. "They had also agreed to continue their consultations and coordinate the Egyptian and Jordanian stances on regional issues of common concern," he told the official Middle East News Agency (MENA).
