Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani held talks Wednesday on recent developments in the Middle East, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.

The two Arab leaders addressed the current critical situation in Gaza and Lebanon and Iran's nuclear issue and expressed their concern, Egyptian presidential spokesman Suliman Awwad said in press statements.

The talks also tackled arrangements for the coming international quartet meeting, slated for Cairo on June 26-27, added the spokesman.

Answering a question on reports that the international quartet meeting was put off due to failure by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to attend, Awwad refuted these reports terming them as groundless.

Mubarak gave directives to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to call for a snap Arab League Council session at the ministerial level for talks on the exacerbating Palestinian situation and its impact on the Palestinians and their cause.

Qatari Emir left here Wednesday wrapping up a several hours' visit to Egypt.

Source: Xinhua