Egyptian-Jordanian-Israeli meeting starts in Cairo

A three-way meeting of Egyptian, Jordanian and Israeli foreign ministers kicked off on Thursday to tackle on means of reviving the stalled Mideast peace process.

The meeting, which groups Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, his Jordanian and Israeli counterparts Abdel-Ilah al-Khatib and Tzipi Livni respectively, is the first direct contact with Israel by the Arab group tasked with following up the Arab Peace Initiative reactivated in late March by Arab leaders, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.

Ahead of the three-way ministerial meeting, Abul Gheit held talks with al-Khatib, who arrived here earlier in the day.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday met with Livni, also arrived here Thursday on a brief visit to Egypt, the two discussed means of reviving the Mideast peace process and Israel's stand as regards the Arab peace initiative.

The Arab Peace Initiative, first approved by the Arab League in its 2002 Beirut summit, calls for Israel's pullout from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East War and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of ties with Arab states.

However, Israel had rejected the initiative after it was first launched in 2002, but the Jewish state has recently said it could provide a basis for talks though there are amendments to the refugee issue.

At a meeting of 13 foreign ministers of a newly-formed Arab peace initiative committee on April 18 in Cairo, Egypt and Jordan was designated as the only members of an Arab committee to contact Israel on activating the initiative.

Source: Xinhua