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Arafat Leaves Cairo After Talks With Mubarak
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left Cairo Saturday after a brief visit, during which he held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.
MENA did not say where Arafat was heading.
Following the talks with Mubarak, Arafat also met with Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Meguid and European Union Mideast peace envoy Miguel Moratinos, who is visiting Egypt, the official Egyptian news agency said.
It did not elaborate on details of the meetings, but has quoted Palestinian Ambassador to the Arab League Mohammad Sobeih as saying that Arafat was expected to brief Mubarak on the bloody clashes in Palestinian territories between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces over holy religious sites in Jerusalem.
The clashes erupted in Jerusalem after Palestinian people protested against the visit by Israeli right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon to Muslims' Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) in the holy city early Thursday.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip later joined the protests and clashed with Israeli forces. Latest reports said at least nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and over 400 others wounded in the clashes, which went into the third straight day on Saturday.
Al-Haram Al-Sharif, also known to the Jews as the Temple Mount, houses al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Islam's third holiest site. The Israelis say it is the site of an ancient Jewish temple, the most sacred shrine of the Judaism. The control of sovereignty over the area lies at the core of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
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