French FM in Cairo for Bigger EU Role in Mideast PeaceFrench Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine arrived in Cairo early Thursday as part of his regional tour to promote the European Union's (EU) role in finding solutions to salvage the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.Vedrine, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, was expected to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Egyptian counterpart Amr Moussa Thursday, the state-run MENA news agency reported. The talks will deal with the latest developments of the Middle East situation in the light of Palestinian uprising and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's shock resignation, the report said. The French minister also will explain the EU's efforts for the implementation of a truce accord agreed by Israel and Palestinians in Egypt's Red Sea resort Sheim el Sheik on October 17 and bringing Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiating table. The two sides agreed to take steps to reduce the violence in occupied Palestinian areas in the October Arab summit, but failed to implement the accord. Over 300 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed and thousands more injured in the 11-week bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, triggered by Israeli right-wing leader Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to the Islamic holy site Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on September 28. Egypt was the first leg of Vedrine's two-day Mideast trip, which will also take him to Palestinian self-rule areas, Israel and Jordan. |
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