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Quartet to meet Israelis, Palestinians in Egypt
06 Jun 2007 18:11:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
CAIRO, June 6 (Reuters) - Egypt said on Wednesday a planned meeting between the Quartet of Middle East mediators and Israeli and Palestinian officials on ending Israeli-Palestinian violence would be held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"Egypt has agreed with the Quartet... to hold a meeting with the Israelis and Palestinians in Sharm el-Sheikh this month, to examine specific measures to end the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians and reach a comprehensive calm that will open the way to a resumption of the peace process," a foreign ministry statement said.

The statement quoted ministry spokesman Alaa El-Hadidi as saying Egypt had also invited the Quartet -- the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- to hold talks with an Arab League working group, comprising Egypt and Jordan, the day after talks with the Israelis and Palestinians.

It gave no dates for the two meetings, which the Quartet said last week were being planned.

The Arab League asked Egypt and Jordan in April to contact Israel and try to persuade it to accept an Arab peace plan that offers Israel normal relations with the Arab world in return for a Palestinian state and full withdrawal from the land seized in the 1967 Six Day War.

Egypt and Jordan already have relations with Israel, and the Israeli government had hoped the working group would include a larger number of Arab nations.

The working group held an unprecedented meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Cairo, but no commitments were made on future action.

Earlier on Wednesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas postponed a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, seeking commitments that Israel would take confidence-building steps such as releasing frozen Palestinian funds. The summit had been due to take place in Jericho on Thursday.

Tension between the two sides has risen in recent weeks, as violence between Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip has been accompanied by a rise in rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel.

Israel has responded by bombing targets in Gaza, killing Palestinian militants and arresting Palestinian lawmakers.
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Palestinian Hamas lawmaker Hatem Kafishah prays after his release from an Israeli jail with no charges filed against him, at a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron, July 5, 2007. Kafishah was one of Hamas lawmakers detained by Israel in May 2007.



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