Mubarak Heads to Syria for Talks on Mideast CrisisEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday headed to Damascus for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on the latest developments in the Middle East.During the visit, the two leaders are expected to exchange views on ways of salvaging the flagging Mideast peace process and diplomatic efforts being made to contain the escalating violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, the state-run MENA news agency reported. The visit, arranged during a phone conversation between Mubarak and Assad on Friday, came within the framework of "consultations and contacts by Mubarak at the Arab and international levels to help ease the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories," Egyptian officials said. Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has been playing a key mediating role in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The region has been rocked by violent Palestinian-Israeli conflicts since September last year, leaving more than 700 people dead, most of them Palestinians. |
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