WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry is returning to the Middle East this week amid rising tensions in Egypt and deteriorating conditions in Syria that threaten to put his signature effort to re-launch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on the back burner.

Kerry departed Washington on Monday evening for Jordan where he will see Arab League officials to discuss developments in Egypt since the military’s ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. They are also expected to discuss the crisis in Syria as President Bashar Assad’s regime appears to have gained the upper hand against the western- and Gulf Arab-backed opposition, the State Department said.

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