UN Chief to Visit Egypt for Talks on Mideast SummitUnited Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is to visit Egypt Saturday morning for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian International Press Center said.The meeting will take place at 11:00 local time (0900 GMT) in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the center said. Annan is expected to discuss with Mubarak the prospect for bringing together Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to calm the tensions in Palestinian areas. The UN chief said after meeting with Arafat in Gaza late on Friday that he expected a summit, which will be hosted by Mubarak and also attended by United States President Bill Clinton and Annan himself, within 48 hours to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli clashes and seek revival of the peace talks between the two sides. Latest reports said that Arafat has agreed to take part in the proposed summit. Palestinian officials initially demanded an international commission of inquiry into the violence, Israeli withdrawal of tanks from the West Bank and reopening of the Palestinian territories before a possible summit. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded by Israeli security forces in the clashes over the last 16 days, which have devastated the peace process. |
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