Council of Europe chief to visit Mideast May 27-30

Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland is to pay a four-day visit to the Middle East on May 27-30 to discuss the regional situation, the Council announced Friday. Jagland will head to Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and Jerusalem, where he will meet leaders at the highest level in all three places. Beginning with Jordan, the Council Secretary-General will hold talks with King Abdallah II and with Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, in addition to meeting Senate Speaker Taher Al-Masri and Speaker of the House, Abed Kareem Doghmei. Talks in Amman will also be held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jagland will later travel to Ramallah and meet with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. In Jerusalem, talks are scheduled with President Shimon Peres and separately with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and also with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. The Council of Europe oversees democracy and human rights in its 47 member nations and regularly reports on the status of these and on any irregularities, as well as tackling broader issues. The Israeli Knesset was given "observer status" at the Council's Parliamentary Assembly in 1957 and the Palestinian Assembly has been granted special "partnership status" at the Strasbourg-based Assembly.