AMMAN, Feb. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Jordan is waiting for an official response over the nomination of Marouf Bakhit as the country's new ambassador to Israel, the Jordan Times reported Friday.

    "Jordan's Foreign Ministry sent Israel a letter of inquiry on nominating the new ambassador and we are waiting for a reply," Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulqi was quoted as saying.

    An official announcement of the return of Jordanian ambassador would be made when the ministry receives a positive reply from Israel, said Mulqi.

    "It still has to go through normal procedures, which include a decision by Jordan's cabinet and the endorsement by a Royal Decree," he said.

    The move to return an ambassador to the Jewish state came following Tuesday's landmark summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a mutual ceasefire.

    Right after the summit, Amman and Cairo announced they would return their ambassadors to Israel within two weeks. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel.

    But they withdrew ambassadors from Tel Aviv shortly after the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada(Uprising) in September 2000 in protest against Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinians.

    Bakhit, a retired major general, was appointed as general coordinator for the Middle East peace process in the Jordanian Foreign Ministry. Enditem