In his meetings with Jordanian and Arab League officials on Wednesday, the top American envoy "will provide an update on Middle East peace, as he said he would do when he met with the Arab League delegation in Washington just this past April," department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

　　During the April meeting, Kerry persuaded the Arab League to renew its 2002 peace initiative, under which the Arab nations offer diplomatic recognition of Israel in return for its complete withdrawal from all occupied territories and a resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue.

　　Small changes were made to add agreed land swaps in defining final borders between Israel and a future Palestine state to make the initiative appeal to Israel.

　　Kerry will skip Israel and the Palestinian territories in his sixth trip to the region since he took office in February. He spoke of "real progress" when he concluded his last four-day shuttling with both parties in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank in late June, saying he believed final status negotiations could be " within reach" with a little more work.

　　"The secretary would not be going back to the region if he did not feel there was an opportunity to keep taking steps forward in providing an update to representatives of the Arab League," Psaki told reporters at a regular press briefing.

　　She said details of the trip was still being finalized, but the latest developments in Syria and Egypt will be discussed as well.

　　Kerry's deputy William Burns was in Egypt for a three-day visit, as the most populous Arab nation is still reeling from the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the country's first elected president, by the military on July 3.

　　Psaki said Kerry will not meet the Syrian opposition in his trip, as the country is roiled by a civil conflict that started in March 2011.