Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) – Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday briefed visiting US senators on political reforms undertaken by Jordan and said the Kingdom had pressed ahead with the process of democratization despite challenges and regional turmoil.

Ensour told a Senate delegation, led by Senator John Cornyn, that Jordan and the United States shared a deep relationship and are willing to further bolster cooperation in various fields. He noted that the US aid would help the Kingdom in carrying out various development projects and programmes.

The Prime Minister said that Jordan's hosting of about 550,000 Syrian refugees, with an equal number or more living in the Kingdom even before the Syrian crisis, had resulted in enormous humanitarian repercussions for the Kingdom.

During the talks, attended by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Ensour said Jordan backed US-led efforts to kick-start the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, hinting that the Kingdom was most affected by a lack of solution to the Palestinian issue as it had received about two million Palestinian refugees over the last 60 years.

Judeh said Jordan was carrying out its obligations towards the Syrian refugees on behalf of the world community, which should come to the Kingdom's aid to continue in this "noble" endeavour.

The senators said they valued the Jordan-US partnership, noting that the Kingdom was a key stabilizer in the region and expressed that they understand the hardship posed by the influx of refugees from Syria.