JORDAN is lifting its ban on the importation of Irish beef and resuming normal trade, according to the Minister of State for European Affairs.
Mr Gay Mitchell said he had been given assurances following meetings yesterday and on Sunday in Amman with the Jordanian Prime Minister, Mr Abdul Kabariti, and Crown Prince Hassan. Mr Mitchell is on a three day visit to the Middle East as part of the EU troika.
The Lebanese ban was also raised later with the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rafiq Hariri, when the troika reached Beirut for the final lap of its tour. Mr Hariri promised to take a personal interest in the matter.
The troika, led by the Italian Foreign Minister, Ms Susanna Agnelli, was briefed by Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Mr Faris Bouez, on the ceasefire agreement with Israel brokered by the US and France.
But Ms Agnelli told journalists later that she did not expect the EU to play a formal role in the still deadlocked discussions on the ceasefire monitoring committee.
The understanding ending the Israeli onslaught, which killed more than 200 people, provides for the US, Israel, Syria, France and Lebanon to set up a committee to monitor the ceasefire.
The Lebanese government would like to see the committee based on the Israel Lebanon border.
