US president, Jordan’s King Abdullah to meet in February

US President Barack Obama and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are set to meet next month to exchange views on the crisis in Syria as well as the Israeli-Palestinian talks.

The White House said in a statement on Thursday that the two leaders will meet in California on February 14 and they will “continue consultations” on the latest developments in the Middle East.

In March 2013, the US president paid an official visit to the Jordanian capital, Amman, where he held talks with King Abdullah II over major regional issues, including the turmoil in Syria. The visit was met meet protests by the Jordanians.

Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. Millions of Syrians have fled the foreign-backed militancy to Syria’s neighboring countries including Jordan.

Amman, one of Washington’s close allies in the Middle East, has numerous times allowed the US to provide military support to Takfiri militants operating in Syria through the Jordanian soil.

Recent reports say the US more than doubled its supply of weaponry and munitions to the so-called Free Syrian Army militants in Syria. Most of the weapons are moving into Syria via neighboring Jordan.

The other topic on the agenda of the Obama-King Abdullah meeting is the US-brokered talks between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Authority (PA), in which Jordan has not been directly involved so far.

On January 16, Jordan stressed that the negotiations between the Israeli-Palestinian should “meet Palestinian aspirations” and at the same time “protect Jordanian interests” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to the country.

The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which resumed in July 2013, have been deteriorating due to the Tel Aviv regime’s illegal settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories.