The German chancellor has made the Middle East a top priority of her six-month EU presidency, and is heading to the region in the wake of what are seen as hopeful signs from the Arab summit that took place this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"The German government and the EU will support this process to the best of our ability," government spokesman Jens Plötner said.

Thursday's Riyadh summit, which renewed a five-year-old initiative to trade land for peace, offered a perspective for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Germany's foreign ministry said.

The two-day meeting in the Saudi capital agreed to re-launch a 2002 Arab initiative, promising normal ties with Israel in return for a pullout from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to homes in what is now the Jewish state.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said the chancellor planned to discuss the outcome of the summit with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak by telephone before her departure.

Itinerary

During Merkel's trip to the Middle East, she is expected to meet with King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during her three-day visit.

Spokesman Wilhelm stressed that German diplomacy was not a replacement for the activities of the key players in the region, but an accompanying measure.

Merkel begins her visit in Jordan on Saturday, then travels to Israel where she, a former physics researcher, will receive an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University.

She then goes to the Palestinian territories before heading to Lebanon, where she will also visit United Nations peacekeeping forces, including a German naval flotilla patrolling the coast.

Merkel began her EU presidency by pushing for new efforts by the Middle East Quartet -- the EU, the UN, the US and Russia -- and urged the United States, a strong ally of Israel, to increase its involvement.

She has also pressed Palestinian President Abbas to comply with the Quartet's demands that the new Palestinian government recognize Israel, acknowledge earlier peace deals and renounce violence. That was proving especially difficult, since the new government includes the militant Hamas movement along with Abbas' own Fatah faction.