Acting Israeli FM Praises Egyptian Ideas on Peace Talks

Acting Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami Thursday praised Egyptian leaders for their "interesting ideas" aimed at advancing the Palesintian-Israeli peace talks.

Terming his talks Thursday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Amr Moussa as "important," Ben-Ami said Egypt has offered "interesting ideas on different issues in the negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

The Egyptians were "very constructive and helpful," and the meeting was "extremely important," he added.

Ben-Ami arrived in the Egyptian Mediterranean port city of Alexandria earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Moussa said the discussions with Ben-Ami involved exchange of views on the Egyptian ideas and ways of helping reach a "fair deal" between the Palestinians and Israelis.

He also said that Egypt has not yet made any official proposals, and it would decide on the next step after discussing with the Palestinians and other parties concerned.

Both Moussa and Ben-Ami did not give any details of the Egyptian ideas.

The Israeli official said that it was still too early to decide whether it was worth convening another Israeli-Palestinian summit after last month's failed talks at Camp David of the United States.

Substantial sorts of understanding has to be reached on different issues to pave the way for a possible new summit, he said. But this is not yet the situation, he added.

Jerusalem is the toughest issue in the Palestinian-Israeli final-status talks, which are envisaged to end by September 13 with a comprehensive peace deal between the two sides.

But the two sides have not yet found solutions to narrow their differences over the status of the holy city. The Palestinians want the Arab East Jerusalem seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War as the capital of their future state while Israel claims the whole city as its "eternal and indivisible capital."

Egypt, which has a leading role in the Arab world and has been striving to bring Israel and the Palestinians together, rejects Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, and supports the Palestinian demand that Israel return this part of the city.



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