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Israeli Minister Says Meeting with Palestinians 'Positive'

A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Monday said that a planned meeting with Palestinian negotiators after a 16-month pause was a positive step but should not be seen as renewal of negotiations.

"This is a positive development," Intelligence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told Israeli public radio.

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Israel Plans Jordan Border Fence to Stop Migrants

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministerial colleagues on Sunday that he planned to strengthen barriers along his country's border with Jordan, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The English-language daily's website said Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud party that he feared illegal migrants who currently enter Israel from Egypt would head to the less-fortified Jordanian border once the Jewish state completes a fence along its southern border.

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Palestinian, Israeli Negotiators to Meet for 1st Time in Months

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators will meet for the first time in more than a year in Jordan on Tuesday to discuss stalled peace talks, the Jordanian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Tuesday will host a meeting including the Quartet as well as Israeli and Palestinian officials," ministry spokesman Mohammad Kayed said.

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12-strong Jordan Team to Join Monitors in Syria

Jordan has chosen 12 judges and military experts to join an Arab League observer mission in Syria, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The semi-official Ad-Dustour newspaper quoted Information Minister Rakan Majali as saying "the final list of names of the Jordanian team expected to join the observers' mission in Syria is ready."

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Thousands of Jordan Islamists Rally to Demand Reform

Thousands of Islamist opposition supporters demonstrated Friday in Amman to demand reform, a week after the movement's offices in a northern city were torched during clashes with loyalists.

Chanting "enough is enough," around 7,000 people, including Islamists, youths and tribesmen, marched from Al-Husseini mosque in central Amman to the nearby city hall, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.

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Jordan Urges End to Syria Violence, Blames Israel for Peace Impasse

Jordan on Wednesday urged an end to "killing" in Syria, and called for reforms in its northern neighbor, where the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died in a crackdown on dissent.

"Killing in Syria must stop and the promised reforms must be implemented without delay," Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in a lecture at the Royal Jordanian National Defense College.

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Jordan Probes Violent Clashes at Demo

Jordan said on Sunday it was probing clashes between opposition Islamist demonstrators and government loyalists in a northern city, where dozens, including police, were wounded.

"The government is investigating the clashes that erupted Friday in Mafraq, where citizens and policemen have been attacked," government spokesman Rakan Majali said in published remarks.

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Dozens Hurt as Jordan Islamists, Regime Loyalists Clash

Jordanian police on Friday fired tear gas to break up clashes between pro-reform Islamist demonstrators and government loyalists in the northern city of Mafraq.

"Police had to fire tear gas after around 300 Islamists clashed with thousands of members of the Bani Hassan tribe," police spokesman Mohammed Khatib told Agence France Presse.

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Jordan Urged to Probe Death of Syria Arms Sale Suspect

Human Rights Watch urged Jordan's Prime Minister Awn Khaswaneh on Wednesday to probe the death in custody of a 20-year-old Jordanian man, who allegedly helped two Syrians buy arms.

It called for an "independent inquiry into the death of Najem Zuhbi ... when in detention at the military intelligence offices in Amman, on November 16, 2011," in a letter to the prime minister.

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Syria Releases Blogger Razan Ghazzawi on Bail

Syria has released Syrian-American blogger Razan Ghazzawi on bail two weeks after her arrest as she was heading to Jordan to attend a conference on press freedoms, a media rights group said on Monday.

"Razan Ghazzawi was released from detention at 10:30 pm (2030 GMT) Sunday on bail of 15,000 Syrian pounds (around 300 dollars)," the Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression said on its website.

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