( dpa ) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert flew to Berlin Sunday afternoon for a series of meetings with top German officials including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A spokesman for Olmert's office said one of the main issues to be discussed during the short trip, set to conclude Tuesday evening, was Iran's nuclear programme.
The Israeli leader is to meet Merkel on Monday, and then again on Tuesday, after which they will hold a joint press conference. He is also to meet President Horst Koehler and members of the Bundestag, the German lower house of parliament.
Olmert's visit comes ahead of a planned March trip of the German cabinet to Israel for a first-ever joint cabinet meeting as a sign of Germany's special solidarity with Israel in this year, the 60th of the Jewish state's founding.
The joint cabinet meeting would mark the first time ever that the German cabinet has convened outside of Europe.