Mubarak Meets Barak's Special Envoy on Mideast CrisisEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's security advisor Danny Yatom, the official Middle East News Agency reported.Ossama el-Baz, Egyptian presidential advisor, told reporters following the 45-minute talks that Yatom conveyed a message from Barak to Mubarak, whose content was not disclosed. The Israeli envoy had gone back with one message from Mubarak, el-Baz said, without giving further details about the meeting. The two sides had been expected to focus on ending the violence in the Palestinian territories and improving dialogue between Israel and Egypt in light of the recall of Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv Mohammed Bassiouni. Mubarak decided on Tuesday to summon the Egyptian ambassador to Israel in protest of the Jewish state's "excessive use of force" against the Palestinians, following a massive Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip Monday which killed four Palestinians. But the Egyptian leader has still continued mediation efforts. He met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Saturday and will host Jordan's King Abdullah II later Sunday. Egypt, the first Arab state to establish diplomatic ties with Israel after signing a peace treaty in 1979, has been playing a mediatory role in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. More than 270 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed and thousands more wounded in the Palestinian-Israeli clashes that erupted on September 28. |
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