Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak held separate talks Wednesday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Cairo, as the U.S. rushes to salvage the peace talks, Xinhua reported.
The meetings came a week after Washington announced it had failed to persuade Israel to freeze settlement building.
Mitchell told reporters after the meeting that in order for the stalemate to be resolved, there needs to be concentrated diplomatic efforts and confidence between both parties. "The U.S. seeks to help the two parties reach an agreement to all final-status issues, and that would pave the way for a final peace treaty. That remains our goal," said Mitchell.
The U.S. Middle East envoy returned to the region on Monday and arrived in Cairo after a round of talks with both Israeli and Palestinian side.
He reiterated the statement made by the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday, in which she stressed that achieving peace between both parties "will not be easy by any means."
Mitchell added that both the two sides still requested that the United States continue its efforts as peace mediator towards the realization of a framework agreement on all permanent issues. These issues include the fate of Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees and security arrangements.
Mitchell is expected at the Arab League headquarter later Wednesday for talks with AL chief Amr Moussa, ahead of the meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, which will discuss the current situation in light of the collapsed direct peace talks.
Prior to Mubarak's meeting with Mitchell, the Egyptian President met Abbas for the second time in less than a week, and Abbas briefed Mubarak on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and the U.S. envoy's proposal.
Abbas is also scheduled to meet Amr Moussa, before taking part in the meeting of Arab foreign ministers that should decide a collective reaction to the U.S. proposal.
...