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Egyptian FM to Syria for Talks on Planned Arab Summit
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Sunday flew to Damascus for talks on preparations of a proposed Arab summit later this month.
Moussa will deliver messages from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is currently on a visit to Syria, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.
The messages deal with the latest developments in the Palestinian-Israeli clashes and the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, and the agenda of the summit, MENA said.
A September 28 visit to Islam's third holiest site, al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, by an Israeli hardline rightist politician sparked Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli security forces. More than 80 Palestinians were killed and over 2,000 injured by the Israeli forces in the last 10 days of violence.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas captured three Israeli soldiers during clashes on Saturday along the border. Israel has said that it holds the governments of Lebanon and Syria responsible for the repercussions of the incident.
Mubarak on Friday called on Arab leaders to meet in Cairo on October 21 and 22 to discuss the deterioration of the situation in Palestinian territories and forge a common Arab position on the issue.
Most of the 22 Arab League members, including Syria, have expressed support for the initiative and decided to take part in the summit. But Gaddafi has voiced reservations, saying such a summit would be useless if it fails to make decision of action. He has not announced whether to attend or not.
After Syria, Moussa will also visit Turkey.
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