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Mubarak hosts Abbas to discuss resumption of peace talks
January 4, 2010
Reuters
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to discuss the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
Israel, Egypt and the United States want Abbas to resume negotiations broken off a year ago over the Gaza war, but he refuses to sit down to talks as long as Israel allows construction of any kind in Jewish West Bank settlements.
There have been signs that progress was being made toward renewing the negotiations. An aide to Abbas said last week the region would "see important political activity in the next two weeks." Israel's ambassador to Washington Michael Oren has said Mubarak has a key role to play in resuming talks.
U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell is expected to return to the region early this year, and Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Intelligence Head Omar Suleiman are due to visit Washington on Friday.
Abbas said he did not know what had happened in talks between Mubarak and Netanyahu in Cairo last week, and added he did not wish to comment on that meeting until after Aboul Gheit and Suleiman returned from Washington.
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