Jordan's King Abdullah II met Wednesday with US President George W. Bush and urged him to set "clear grounds and fixed time-frames" for stalled Middle East peace talks, Jordan's embassy said.Abdullah later discussed his White House visit with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was due to meet Thursday with Bush as Washington pushes for a peace agreement before the US leader's term ends in January 2009.
The flurry of meetings aimed to set the stage for Bush's visit to the Middle East in May, a trip anchored on ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the modern state of Israel.
The White House remained tight-lipped about what it insisted was the king's "private" visit -- a roughly hour-long working breakfast -- but Jordan's embassy released a statement describing the exchange. "King Abdullah said negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis should be based on clear grounds and fixed time-frames," said the embassy, which did not detail what that schedule should be.