Amman- Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday issued a decree approving a major reshuffle of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi's cabinet which was formed 15 months ago, according to a royal court statement.

The cabinet change was designed to ensure the ministerial group had more coherence and enable it to cope with new economic and political challenges that emerged recently as a result of the global financial crisis and the election of what is widely perceived in the Arab world as an extremist right-wing government in Israel, the statement said.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan on Wednesday issued instructions for authorities to take "urgent and immediate steps" to facilitate entry of Iraqis to the country and grant them residence permits, the royal court said.

He made the remarks as he presided over a meeting of top officials to discuss moves for easing measures which have been adopted by the Jordanian border authorities over the past months to limit the influx of Iraqis to the Hashemite Kingdom.

Amman - e conferred Thursday at the Red Sea
resort of Aqaba with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and urged
Israel to refrain from taking any "escalating steps" in the Gaza Strip,
according to a royal court statement.

"Any escalating steps on the part of Israel will aggravate tension" in
the territory, King Abdullah said, alluding to reported threats by
Israeli leaders to launch a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip
following rocket attacks on Israeli towns earlier this week.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday rejected Israel's excavations at al-Magharebah Gate in East Jerusalem as an "illegal" step that could affect the Islamic nature of the holy city.

Abdullah made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, a royal court statement said.

"The monarch asserted the illegality of the Israeli moves at al-Magharebah Gate and urged Israel to abide by the relevant international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention of 1954," according to the statement.

Amman  - King Abdullah II of Jordan left Amman on Saturday

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan conferred Monday with the visiting President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pottering and underlined Europe's "pivotal role" in advancing the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the royal court stated.

Pottering was in Jordan to attend the extraordinary session of the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly that opened at the Dead Sea resort on Sunday.