Israel PM to meet Egypt's Mubarak over peace crisis

Israel and Egypt held a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday as the Jewish state prepares for indirect talks with the Palestinians that could set the stalled peace process back on track.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went straight into talks with regional broker Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after arriving in Egypt's Red Sea resort.Their talks were to focus on the launch expected within days of US-brokered indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a process suspended since the Gaza war of December 2008-January 2009.

The leaders of Israel and Egypt met Monday to discuss the renewal of the Middle East peace process ahead of US-backed indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and the Jewish state.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talks with regional broker President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh "focused on the renewal of the peace process," the premier's office said.The closed-door talks took place "in a positive and constructive atmosphere," the Israeli leader's office said in a statement issued after the almost 90-minute encounter.

The leaders of Israel and Egypt met Monday to discuss the renewal of the Middle East peace process ahead of US-backed indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and the Jewish state.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talks with regional broker President Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh "focused on the renewal of the peace process," the premier's office said.The closed-door talks took place "in a positive and constructive atmosphere," the Israeli leader's office said in a statement issued after the almost 90-minute encounter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would visit Egypt on January 6 in an effort to revitalise stalled peace talks with the Palestinians."On Thursday I shall go to Egypt," he told senior members of his Likud party in remarks broadcast on Israeli public radio. "We have a single aim, to strengthen security and to move toward achieving peace."Netanyahu did not elaborate, but Israeli media have reported that he is to meet President Hosni Mubarak at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried on Tuesday to nudge along fledgling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, seeking to prevent a rift over Jewish settlements from derailing them.On her first visit to the Middle East since she launched the new talks in Washington on September 2, Clinton was to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.The chief US diplomat held a preparatory meeting with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt who also met with Netanyahu and Abbas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt next Monday to discuss a resumption of Middle East peace talks, a top Israeli official told AFP.The two leaders "agreed during a telephone conversation last night (Monday) to meet next Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh," the Red Sea resort where Mubarak is convalescing after surgery last month.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday warned Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu against launching a new war on Gaza, as they met in a bid to break the impasse in Middle East peace negotiations.During talks at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Mubarak cautioned the visiting prime minister after Israeli troops traded fire with militants in the Palestinian enclave.

US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians resume in Egypt on Tuesday as tensions over the issue of settlements threaten the success of the latest push for peace.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will oversee the second round of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, after direct negotiations were launched in Washington on September 3.The parties are scheduled to continue their talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday.