UN Chief Arrives in Egypt in Peace Mission

Published June 12th, 2001 - 03:00 GMT

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Egypt on Tuesday at the start of a week-long mission in the Middle East aimed at ending eight months of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, reported AFP

Annan will hold meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, the UN office in Cairo said, cited by the agency.

The UN chief will also make visits to Jordan and Syria on Thursday, and Lebanon on Friday. On Saturday he will be in Israel and Sunday in Gaza.

His spokesman Fred Eckhard said last week Annan was taking advantage of a "window of opportunity" to encourage Palestinians and Israelis to move beyond talks on security to political discussions on how to implement the US-led Mitchell commission's report on ending the violence and returning to peace talks.

Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdelaziz was reportedly to meet with Annan in Morocco on Tuesday for talks on the Palestinian crisis.

The official Kuwait news agency (KUNA said that Prince Abdullah's talks with Annan would focus on Saudi Arabia's views on the current situation in the Middle East, as well as practical solutions to overcome the condition in the occupied Palestinian territories and restore negotiations.

The prince arrived in Morocco on Sunday and held talks with King Mohammed on bilateral and regional issues - Albawaba.com