Egypt to Seek EU Support for Pushing Mideast Peace Process ForwardEgyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa will start his trip to Europe later this month to seek the European Union's backing for pushing forward the stalled Middle East peace process.Moussa is scheduled to visit Germany on April 23-25 and then to Austria on April 25-26, to call on the EU to play a role in ending the Israeli-Palestinian violence and achieving a peaceful solution in the Middle East, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported Friday. Moussa and his European counterparts are expected to exchange views over the latest developments in the peace process and ongoing Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians, the agency said. Egypt has expected the EU and Russia to play a bigger role in promoting Palestinian-Israeli talks when U.S. President George W. Bush seems to step back from his predecessor Bill Clinton's active mediating role and place the peace process on the back burner. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Michel will pay a two-day visit to Egypt as of April 18, while Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique will arrive in Cairo on April 22 for an official visit. Israeli violation of an Islamic holy shrine in East Jerusalem last September sparked the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli bloody clashes, which have so far killed 430 people, mostly Palestinians, and injured thousands of others. |
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