Solana to Visit Egypt for Talks on Mideast CrisisEuropean Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana will arrive in Cairo Tuesday evening to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the current Mideast crisis.Solana and Mubarak are expected to focus on ways of "providing appropriate atmosphere" for reviving peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency quoted EU sources as saying. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the sources said that Solana will also hold talks with Mubarak's political advisor Osama al-Baz. Solana's visit comes as part of a regional tour, aimed at pushing forward the flagging peace process in the Middle East, the sources said. The EU official arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday at the start of his regional trip, that also includes the Palestinian self-rule areas, Jordan and Egypt. He will try to facilitate a proposed meeting between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in a bid to end the ongoing conflict between the two sides. The EU is making efforts to play a more active role in promoting the Mideast peace process as U.S. President George W. Bush seems to keep a low profile in the region. The Middle East has been witnessing continued Palestinian- Israeli bloodshed, which has left more than 700 people dead, most of them Palestinians, since September last year. |
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