Egypt's Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Maher was expected to arrive in the West Bank city of Ramallah Tuesday accompanied by Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian chief of intelligence service, along with other officials in a new effort to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Palestinian sources said that the Egyptian delegation led by Maher was scheduled to meet with President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to discuss Egyptian moves for a mutual ceasefire with Israel. In addition, they were set to review the Saudi initiative that is to be set forth in the upcoming Arab summit in Tunisia.
In the course of his visit, according to IPC, Maher was to seek to persuade the Palestinian resistance factions, especially Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, to suspend their military operations against Israel to gear up for deliberations over a ceasefire deal.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials said that Maher has no plans to meet Israeli officials during his visit.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday that he had been refused talks with Palestinian leaders during his current Middle East tour, due to his unwillingness to meet Arafat.
"I'm really not of a mind to call on Yasser Arafat until I see real action taken against 'terrorism'," Downer told Australian broadcasting corporation radio from Jerusalem, where he held on Monday talks with Israeli leaders.
Downer said he had hoped to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and other officials in the Palestinian Authority.
"I think we should support the broader western approach of dealing with the prime minister and other ministers in the Palestinian Authority." (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
