CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El Sheikh next week an Israeli official told the press Tuesday. Mubarak and Olmert are expected to hold talks on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and explore ways to push the process forward The exact date of Olmert's visit will be decided during Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit's current trip to Israel which began Wednesday. An Egyptian diplomatic source told The Daily Star Egypt "[Abul Gheit] will meet Olmert and [Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Tzipi] Livni and a couple of other politicians to discuss the Palestinian issue. Abul Gheit had recently welcomed the Dec. 23 meeting between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, considering it a positive step in the direction of rebuilding trust between the two sides. He urged the Israeli side to take further steps in easing restrictions on the Palestinian people, continuing on a recent Israeli decision to return some of the seized Palestinian tax money to Palestinian authorities. Abul Gheit had also recognized the Quartet on the Middle East's - United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - decision to continue sending aid to Palestine for an additional three months. He added that Egypt was interested in improving Palestine's economic situation, and its support of the Palestinian people through urgent humanitarian aid. Former Ambassador to Israel and member of the National Security Committee in the Shura Council Mohammed Bassiouny recently told The Daily Star Egypt that Egyptian officials are in contact with both the Israeli and Palestinian sides over pressing issues in the disputed territories. "We want to get the Palestinians out of the bottleneck and the political disputes they are in, the former ambassador said. "We must have a new government which will adhere to the wishes of the international community and the three stipulations set by the Quartet, which are the recognition of the state of Israel, the cessation of violence and the recognition of existing peace agreements, he added. Sobhy Essaila, an expert from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Daily Star Egypt that Egypt must "intensify its efforts in the political arena and not just focus on security issues [in Palestine]. A comprehensive political initiative must be offered and Egypt should do this.
