Saudi Crown Prince, Mubarak to Talk Mideast PeaceSaudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss Middle East peace on Wednesday, presidential sources said on Monday in Cairo.Prince Abdullah, the effective ruler of Saudi Arabia, starts a three-day private visit to Egypt on Wednesday and will stay in the Sinai beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the sources said. They said the talks with Mubarak, who has a residence in Sharm el-Sheikh, were likely to focus on final-status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and efforts to revive Israeli-Syrian peace talks following the death on June 10 of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Mubarak said on Sunday that Egypt would recognise a Palestinian state whether it emerged by agreement or was declared unilaterally. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has said he will proclaim a state if negotiations with Israel fail to produce a final peace deal by a September deadline agreed by both sides. Arafat, Prince Abdullah and Mubarak all attended Assad's funeral in Damascus where they met the Syrian leader's 34-year-old son and designated successor Bashar al-Assad. "He (Bashar) is ready to resume the negotiations (with Israel) for the sake of peace," Mubarak said on Sunday. "Bashar al-Assad will be a very good president and the rumours about the fragility of the regime are wrong." |
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