JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — A senior Jordanian official on Thursday dismissed as “baseless” reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry would meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman on Sunday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kerry will meet Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Agence France-Presse on Wednesday quoted a Palestinian official as saying that Kerry is to meet Abbas on Sunday in Amman.

Kerry, who took up his post on February 1, made his first visit to the region alongside US President Barack Obama last month, holding one-on-one talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership in occupied Jerusalem and Amman on March 24, according to AFP.

Direct peace talks broke down just weeks after they were started in September 2010 in a bitter row over Israel’s settlement building.

Since then, the Palestinians say they will not return to the table without a settlement freeze while Israel has agreed to resume talks only if there are no such pre-conditions.