Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday met with Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas, currently on a two-day official visit to Cairo, to discuss the proposed resumption of stalled peace talks with Israel.
The two men are scheduled on Monday to discuss Palestinian national reconciliation efforts, along with recent developments in both the Arab and Palestinian arenas.
PA ambassador to Egypt Barakat al-Farra told reporters on Saturday that Abbas planned to brief Mubarak on ongoing Arab and Palestinian efforts aimed at securing a UN Security Council resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlement building on occupied Arab land.
In a televised interview with Qatar-based satellite television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, Abbas warned of the possible outbreak of a “new Intifada” in the event that negotiations with Israel failed. While accusing the Zionist state of “impeding the peace process,” Abbas nevertheless ruled out a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.
The Egyptian government, for its part, supports the PA chief’s stated position that peace talks cannot resume as long as Israel's illegal settlement activities continued.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
