Mideast Summit on Salvaging Peace Process Opens in EgyptThe multi-lateral Mideast Summit opened Monday to try and end the more than two weeks of bloody conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians and salvage the faltered peace process.The opening of the summit was postponed from the expected 12:00 a.m. (1000 GMT) to 13:20 p.m. (1120 GMT) on Monday mainly due to sharp differences between the Israeli and Palestinian side over the formation of an international committee to investigate into the bloody clashes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territories. U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived here Monday morning to join U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the European Union's foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana for the summit, hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. |
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