United States special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, will be holding a meeting on Wednesday with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem to mark the start of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.On Friday, Mitchell will be heading to the central West Bank city of Ramallah to hold a meeting with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. He will be leaving the region next Sunday.
Israeli sources reported that Israel will focus on “security issues” instead of other core issues such as settlements, borders and Jerusalem.
On Tuesday evening, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, phoned the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, to follow-up on talks held Monday between Netanyahu and
Mubarak at the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al Sheikh.
President Mahmoud Abbas will be heading to Cairo on Wednesday to hold a meeting with Mubarak. Abbas is currently in Riyadh visiting the Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz.
Abbas held talks with the Saudi Intelligence Chief, Prince Miqrin Bin Abdul-Aziz before he met the Saudi king.
A diplomatic Palestinian source told the French Press Agency that the visit is part of the Arab diplomatic coordination before the beginning of indirect talks.
