US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today meets Jordan's King Abdullah and holds further talks with Palestinian and Israeli officials on the third day of her Middle East trip.
Dr Rice has been touring the Middle East trying to persuade Arab governments to breathe new life into a peace plan they ratified in 2002 by adding what she calls "active diplomacy" - seen as code for early contacts with Israelis.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman today
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also on a visit to the region, raised the possibility today that the Israelis and Palestinians - along with officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates - would be invited to attend the next meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators.
It was unclear whether such an invitation would be extended, although Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would "not hesitate to participate" in a Quartet meeting.
Dr Rice met separately yesterday with Palestinians and Israelis to gauge the chances for peace talks in which both sides would initially talk to the United States rather than directly to each other.
However, she said she was not striving for a "big bang" breakthrough.
She visited the West Bank city of Ramallah to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before heading to dinner with Mr Olmert.
Mr Olmert has so far ruled out engaging Mr Abbas on peace since the Fatah leader formed a Palestinian unity government with the Islamist Hamas faction.
Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have fulfilled their commitments under a "road map" peace plan, which calls for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank and the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups.