Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II held emergency talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman Saturday and both leaders called for an "immediate cessation" of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to a royal court statement.

The two leaders "discussed the situation in Gaza and urged the world community to force Israel to halt its aggression immediately," the statement said.

Amman  - Several thousand Jordanians demonstrated Saturday in Amman and other major cities in condemnation of the Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

King Abdullah II was leading an effort with world leaders to ensure a speedy halt to the Israeli "aggression", the royal court said.

The Israeli attack first sparked a demonstration in Amman by the country's professional associations and opposition parties.

Amman - A Jordanian plan to send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has been delayed until January so that it does not conflict with the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, had planned to send the ship on Thursday, which is Christmas Day, in an attempt at "breaking the siege" Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip.

However, European lawmakers and other activists who agreed to be on board the ship when it sails from the Red Sea port of Aqaba asked to be given time "to celebrate Christmas and New Year."

Amman- Scores of Jordanian trade unionists and opposition party leaders staged a sit-in Saturday in front of the Professional Associations Complex in support of the Iraqi reporter who recently hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush during a press conference in Baghdad.

Participants shouted slogans against the US-led invasion of Iraq and raised a portrait of reporter Montazer al-Zaidi with a caption reading "Montazer, you acted on behalf of the nation."

Amman - Arab stock markets showed mixed performance this week as investors appeared skeptical over the annual results of listed firms in the wake of the ongoing global financial crisis, analysts said Friday.

"I believe most investors prefer to take a wait-and-see approach at this juncture when the world financial crisis keeps unfolding and listed firms prepare to announce their annual results early in January," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Amman - Jordan's trade deficit widened by 27 per cent in the first 10 months of the year even though exports expanded more strongly than imports in the period, Amman reported Thursday.

The state-run Department of Statistics reported a deficit of 5.675 billion dinars (8.02 billion dollars) in this year's January-October period, compared with 4.467 billion dinars a year earlier.

The deficit came on imports of 10.3 billion dinars, up 32.2 per cent from the same period last year. Exports rose by 39 per cent to almost 4.63 billion dinars.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan's main supplier of energy, topped the list of exporters to Jordan, followed by China and Germany.