Israeli FM in Cairo for Talks with MubarakIsraeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami arrived in Cairo Wednesday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East peace process.Ben-Ami was expected to update Mubarak on the latest developments in the region and the outcome of Israeli-Palestinian contacts held recently to reach a peace deal, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. The visit came at the request of the Israeli side, during which Ben-Ami also will meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, the news agency said. As the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state, Egypt has been playing a key mediating role in the Middle East peace process. High-level Palestinian and Israeli officials continued their talks in recent days on a future peace deal, though little progress has been achieved. It was reported that U.S. President Bill Clinton's peace proposals for a final settlement to the nearly half-century Palestinian-Israeli conflict remain the bases of negotiations. Clinton made the proposals on December 23, which would give the Palestinians sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods and the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, but deny the Palestinian refugees' right of return to their homeland now in Israel. Israel accepted the plan in principle while Palestinians considered it "full of ambiguities" and were sought clarifications from Clinton. The Palestinian side stressed that Israel must comply with the U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which call for Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, especially East Jerusalem, and guarantee the Palestinian refugees' right of return to their homeland. |
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