Cairo, Egypt
27 January 2009
U.S. Middle East Peace Envoy George Mitchell (l) with Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo, 27 Jan 2009 |
It was another day of intensive diplomatic negotiations in the Egyptian capital, as efforts to prolong and stabilize the cease-fire in Gaza topped the agenda of visiting foreign emissaries, including newly-appointed special envoy George Mitchell.
He arrived in Cairo on the first leg of a trip that will take him to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Turkey. He is to meet Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, amid high expectations in the Arab press.
Meanwhile, European foreign policy chief Javier Solana conferred with President Mubarak and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, reiterating Europe's intention to continue "to help the Palestinian people ... despite Palestinian political divisions."Egypt optimistic about long-term truce between Israel, Hamas
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit argued that he is optimistic about achieving a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, after several rounds of talks between Egyptian mediators and Palestinian factions, including Hamas.
He says that the Palestinian factions came to Egypt to try to agree to a long-term truce, and that he sees cause to be optimistic. He also believes that a permanent and durable cease-fire can be achieved by the first week of February, leading to the reopening of border crossings into Gaza.
Although Senator Mitchell is not planning to visit Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Hezbollah's Al Manar TV that he was "hoping for an unconditional dialogue" with the new Obama administration.Obama reaches out to Arab world
US President Obama gives exclusive interview to Al-Arabiya TV |
Mr. Obama called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest."
Veteran Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem, who conducted the interview with President Obama for al-Arabiya TV, explained that he thinks the new U.S. president is making a concerted effort to change U.S. policy and extend a hand to the Arab and Islamic world.
He says that President Obama is addressing the Arab and Islamic world after taking symbolic steps like closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, sending U.S. envoy George Mitchell to the region, and starting the U.S. pullout from Iraq, in a bid to say that he is opening a new page in relations between the U.S. and the Arab and Islamic world.
Al-Arabiya TV stressed that the new U.S. president was making a concerted effort to tell Arabs and Muslims that he does not equate Islam with terrorism.