Jordan, Egypt Mend Fences After Rift Over Gulf Crisis : Mideast: King Hussein and President Mubarak meet to thaw out their chilly diplomatic relations.

AQABA, Jordan —  Egypt and Jordan reconciled four years of soured diplomatic relations Saturday that resulted from the 1990-91 Persian Gulf crisis.

King Hussein and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak talked for more than two hours at this Red Sea port and then held a joint news conference to announce their achievement.

“Our relations will return to what they used to be in mutual cooperation and coordination,” the king said, adding that he and Mubarak also agreed to “keep our contacts continuous at all levels.”

Although diplomatic relations between the two nations were never formally broken off, they were frozen after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990.

“We have discussed all issues of mutual concern, especially a joint outlook for continued steps toward a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” Hussein told reporters as Mubarak, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.

Mubarak flew home immediately after the talks.

Jordan opposed a U.S.-led military force that booted Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait in February, 1991. The kingdom’s perceived tilt toward Iraqi President Saddam Hussein left it ostracized by the anti-Iraq camp, which included Mubarak.

Since the war, Hussein has distanced himself from Iraq and mended fences with some Arabs. He has twice visited Egypt, the second time in July.

However, despite the visits, relations remained chilly. Ties were further strained when Mubarak criticized Hussein for signing a peace treaty with Israel in October without waiting for Syria and Lebanon to arrive at similar accords with the Jewish state.

Egypt also played a strong role in what Jordan saw as a diminishing of its role as custodian of Islamic shrines in Jerusalem in a resolution adopted by a December summit of the 52-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.

However, relations have improved since then, particularly after Jordan’s new foreign minister, Abdul Karim Kabariti, visited Cairo and met with Mubarak on Jan. 12, paving the way for Saturday’s meeting.

Mubarak had been expected in Jordan on Feb. 1. It was not immediately known why he chose to advance the trip, which followed talks he held Friday in Cairo with Syria’s foreign minister.