Doaa El-Bey follows this week's meetings aimed at boosting the possibility of a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell met President Hosni Mubarak on Monday as part of a tour of the region aimed at reviving Palestinian Israeli peace talks. Following the meeting Mitchell said reaching a just and comprehensive peace requires starting serious negotiations among all the involved parties. Mitchell's tour, which took him to Israel, Syria, Egypt, Palestine and then back to Israel, is his fifth since Barack Obama came to power. Mohamed Bassiouni, a former Egyptian ambassador to Israel, sees the frequency of visits as a reflection of Obama's desire to push the peace process forward. Mitchell was appointed as his personal envoy to the Middle East in the first week of his presidency. "The US administration is adamant about Israel halting settlement building and reaching a two-state solution. It is determined to start and conclude peace talks as soon as possible." Bassiouni told Al-Ahram Weekly. Mitchell also met with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in what Bassiouni qualified as an exploratory visit to listen to the viewpoints of different parties. In a press conference following the meeting Mitchell cited Israel's continued settlement building as one of the greatest obstacles to resuming peace talks. Some 280,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements, in addition to 180,000 in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem. Palestinian leaders say peace talks with Israel, frozen for the past six months, cannot resume unless all settlement activity ceases. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists construction must proceed to accommodate "natural growth" of the settler population. Netanyahu also says East Jerusalem, which Israel captured and annexed in 1967, must remain part of Israel. Mitchell's meetings with Israeli leaders during his various tours have yet to bring a deal over settlement building any closer. During his present visit he attempted to ease tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv, playing down differences with Israel as "discussions among friends". Mitchell affirmed America's commitment to Israel's security during his meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday. After meeting with Mubarak Mitchell called on the Arab world to take steps towards normalising relations with Israel. He added that he was not asking anyone to move towards full normalisation but wanted to see "meaningful steps by individual countries". In Syria he told his hosts the US was determined to achieve a "truly comprehensive" peace settlement between Israel and its neighbours. Mitchell's second visit to Damascus reflects Washington's belief that Syria has an important role to play in regional peace efforts, a U-turn on the Bush administration's isolation of Syria for its support of Hamas and Hizbullah. Mitchell described his talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as "very candid and positive". His meetings provided Syria with an opportunity to reiterate its demand to recover occupied lands on the principle of land for peace. Mitchell was the first of four US officials scheduled to visit Israel this week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones and Dennis Ross all had planned meetings with Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Yossi Gal paid a one-day visit to Egypt on Monday, meeting with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and other officials. They discussed developments in the Palestinian file, regional and bilateral issues. The visit, which aims to promote relations between Egypt and Israel, is part of the regular contacts maintained by the two states. Netanyahu, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, also attended the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv's celebration to mark the anniversary of the 23 July Revolution. Some commentators saw their attendance, at a time when Netanyahu has rejected calls to halt construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, as provocative. Bassiouni puts a more positive gloss on the event. Netanyahu's attendance, he argued, suggests that he wants to improve his relations with Egypt. "Every Israeli prime minister seeks to establish good relations with Egypt because it is the cornerstone for peace." During the celebration, which took place at the Egyptian ambassador's residence, Netanyahu voiced tentative -- if non-specific -- support for the 2002 Saudi-backed Arab initiative, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal from territory occupied in 1967. "We appreciate the efforts by Arab states to advance the peace initiative. If these proposals are not final, they can create an atmosphere in which a comprehensive peace can be reached," Netanyahu said. "We hope in the months ahead to forge peace with the Palestinians and to expand that into a vision of a broader regional peace."
