Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher appealed to the United States on Friday to put pressure on Israel to respond to US cease-fire initiatives in an effort to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East, AFP said.
Maher who stated Friday upon his return to Cairo that his diplomatic mission to Israel had failed, asked US Secretary of State Colin Powell in a phone call to urge Israel to respond to efforts by US envoy Anthony Zinni and measures taken by the Palestinian Authority.
Maher’s mission came to bring the two sides back to the round table of talks, in an attempt to stop the Israeli escalation against the Palestinians.
The Israeli army continued its retaliation for weekend Palestinian suicide attacks with a pre-dawn raid on a police headquarters in Gaza City and two incursions in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, said the agency.
Maher arrived in Jerusalem Thursday on the first public visit to Israel by a top Egyptian official since the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took office this spring.
In Jerusalem the Egyptian foreign minister met Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, President Moshe Katsav, and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy negotiated the trip during a secret visit to Cairo earlier this week after Mubarak asked to send Maher to Israel and the PA to try to defuse the dangerous situation of escalating violence over the past week.
Maher also met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat whose personal safety was of concern to Egypt after two Israeli raids targeted sites adjacent to his headquarters in Gaza and Ramallah during the week – Albawaba.com
