Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� July, 2002

Meeting with King of Jordan Monday, July 1, 2002 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with His Majesty King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi expressed his intention to response positively to a rescheduling of Jordan's debt owing to Japan as well as to continue with economic cooperation and assistance to Jordan, to which King Abdullah expressed his gratitude. Furthermore, King Abdullah praised the concept for a new Middle East peace process announced by President George W. Bush of the United States of America at the Kananaskis Summit as "demonstrating a general road map." King Abdullah emphasized that it was the choice of the Palestinian people themselves as to whether or not President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority should step down.