Amman - Arab stock markets ended week steady on rising oil prices and signs of "shaky recovery" in the world's leading economies, financial analysts said Friday.

They contended that regional markets stood to gain in the long run from US President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world from Cairo on Thursday.

Amman - At least 10 pro-government Jordanian lawmakers have deposited a draft law with the speaker of the lower house of parliament proposing the abrogation of the peace treaty which Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, parliamentary sources said Monday.

The move represented the culmination of a series of sharp reactions in the country to a proposal that was discussed recently by the Israeli Knesset depicting Jordan as the "alternative homeland" for the Palestinians.

Amman  - Arab stock markets reflected mixed performance this week mainly in response to retreats at global markets, but financial analysts said Friday they expected regional bourses to rally next week, drawing momentum from rapidly rising oil prices and improving indicators of the world economy.

"I believe Arab markets, particularly in the Gulf region, will receive an impetus from climbing crude prices and latest rallies on world bourses," Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told German Press Agency.

Amman - The Jordan Food and Drug Administration has banned the import of the energy drink Red Bull Cola and ordered its local agent to withdraw the product from the market, JFDA Director General Mohammad Rawashdeh was quoted as saying Friday.

The decision was made following findings in Germany that the drink contains a trace amount of cocaine, he told the Jordan Times.

Amman - At least 15 Jordanian lawmakers on Friday urged the government to sever diplomatic ties with Israel in protest against debate in the Israeli parliament over regarding Jordan as an "alternative homeland" for the Palestinians.

"The voting on the proposal by the Israeli Knesset proves that the Zionist mentality of the ruling politicians in Israel does not believe in peace and has no respect for the peace treaties and UN resolution," the pro-government National Democratic Bloc at the lower house of parliament said in a statement.

Amman - Four Jordanian Islamists have been arrested for allegedly planning attacks on Israel in retaliation for the "massacres" it committed during its 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip in January, judicial sources said Wednesday.

More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and about 4,000 wounded in the Gaza attack.

The four people, who were detained in April, are expected to be charged with the possession of arms without license for illegal uses, the sources said.

Amman - The Jordanian government on Tuesday lodged a strongly-worded protest with Israel over discussion in the Israeli Knesset of a proposal envisaging the Hashemite Kingdom as a homeland for Palestinians.

Amman  - Arab stock markets kept their upward thrust this week, buoyed by rising oil prices and the flow of fresh liquidity to regional markets as investors appeared upbeat over indicators that the world recession could be bottoming out, financial analysts said Friday.

"I believe rising oil prices represent a positive indicator that sends a message to markets that the situation of the world economy could be improving," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II conferred on Tuesday with the envoy of the Middle East Quartet Tony Blair, urging intensive efforts to re-launch "serious" peace negotiations, according to a royal court statement.

"The discussions tackled efforts under way to re-launch serious negotiations to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state vision," the statement said.

Amman - The World Economic Forum (WEF) was set Friday to start a three-day conference in Jordan with some 1,300 business and political leaders brainstorming about the global economic downturn.

King Abdullah II was set to open the WEF parley, meeting under the banner "Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for the Middle East: Home-gown Strategies for Success" at the Dead Sea resort.

Amman - The World Economic Forum (WEF) opens a conference on the Middle East in Jordan on Friday that is expected to see the participation of about 1,300 political, business and civil society leaders from 80 countries.

Jordan's King Abdullah II is to open the three-day gathering that will take place on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, with the theme: "Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for the Middle East: Home-grown Strategies for Success."

Amman - About 7,000 people employed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) went on strike Tuesday demanding wage increases and improvements in living conditions, strike organizers said.

The strike is expected to continue through Thursday.

It was the third strike to be carried out by UNRWA employees in Jordan since April 20, organizers added.

They said that the employees had decided to stage the new strike after their leaders failed to reach agreement with UNRWA's administration in Jordan.

Amman - The leaders of Jordan and Syria on Monday set Israel's evacuation from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War as prerequisite for establishment of peace in the region.

The remark was made during a whirlwind visit to Damascus by Jordan's King Abdullah and talks with Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, which focused on the latest developments in the region including the outcome of the monarch's meeting on April 21 with US President Barack Obama.

Amman - Leading members, including the secretary general, of Jordan's largest political party, the Islamic Action Front, resigned Friday, citing "differences in viewpoints."

"The step is designed to allow the Consultative Council an opportunity to elect a new and more coherent Executive Bureau that supervises the party's march in the coming stage," Bani Ershaid, who resigned as secretary general, told the German Press Agency dpa, without going into details.

Amman - The Jordanian authorities put the final touches Thursday to arrangements for receiving Pope Benedict XVI, as officials and Islamic scholars voiced hope the pontiff's trip would help advance the Arab-Israeli peace process.

The pope is due to arrive in Amman Friday for a four-day visit at the beginning of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which is also due to take him also to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The pontiff is expected to be accorded a tumultuous welcome, led by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.

Amman - The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, on Thursday demanded the closure of all pig farms in the country, as the authorities stepped up measures to avert the arrival of swine flu in the kingdom.

"We are extremely concerned over the possibility of the disease's spread to Jordan particularly after the discovery of the H1N1 virus in occupied Palestine," the IAF's six lawmakers in the lower house of parliament said in a memorandum to Prime Minister Nader Dahabi.

Amman  - King Abdullah II met Monday with Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and voiced Jordan's readiness to boost bilateral ties with Iraq in various spheres, a royal court statement said.

The monarch said Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi would visit Iraq to discuss "the mechanism for pushing forward bilateral cooperation." He did not set a date for the trip.

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday held talks over the latest peace moves in the region with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, who relayed to him a verbal message from the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a royal court statement.

"The message dealt with latest developments in the region and efforts under way to arrive at a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East," the statement said.

Amman - The 2008 report released Saturday by Jordan's state- funded National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) found continued "torture" at Jordanian jails and a retreat in public freedoms.

Anti-torture efforts in Jordan are still "modest and hesitant," the report said. The document was issued at a press conference by NCHR Trustees Council Chairman Adnan Badran and Commissioner General Mohieddin Touk.

Amman - Arab markets ended the week with mixed performances, but financial analysts said Friday they expected regional markets to be "indirectly affected" by swine flu.

"We believe that Arab stock markets will be indirectly affected by swine flu, particularly if swift solutions are not found for the disease," Wajdi Makhamreh, chief operating officer at the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding, told the German Press Agency dpa.