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EU's Ashton to visit Egypt ahead of Gaza donors' conference The EU's High Representative Catherine Ashton returns to Cairo months after failing to broker a deal between the government and the Brotherhood
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is expected to visit Egypt on 11 October for a donors' conference on the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, state news agency MENA reported. Egypt announced early in September it would host a donors' conference, jointly chaired with Norway, on funding the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip following the ravaging war with Israel in July and August. The densely populated Palestinian enclave faces a considerable price tag of $7.8 billion for reconstruction, according to estimates by the Palestinian Authority in September. A 50-day Israeli bombardment destroyed entire neighbourhoods and flattened major infrastructure. Ashton last visited Cairo in April ahead of presidential elections won by former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The EU's foreign policy chief tried for months to mediate an agreement between Egypt's post 30 June, 2013 regime and the ousted Muslim Brotherhood but to no avail. In her upcoming visit, Ashton is scheduled to hold talks with top Egyptian government officials, including Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and hold one-to-one discussions on the sidelines of the conference. The fighting between Israeli forces and Islamist militant group Hamas, which ended with a truce on 26 August, killed over 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis, most of them soldiers. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/112076.aspx