U.S. seeks more consultation with Egypt; calls for release of Israeli soldiers CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published Wednesday that his mediation efforts for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants were sabotaged by an unnamed party. I had reached an honorable solution to the crisis of the captured soldier and had obtained from Israel that it free a large number of Palestinian detainees, Mubarak told the state-owned Al Ahram daily. He said he had reached the breakthrough in the negotiations following contacts with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas' exiled head Khaled Meshaal. Hamas armed wing is one of three Palestinian militant groups that claimed the June 25 capture of the Israeli corporal following an attack on a southern Gaza border post. But Hamas was submitted to pressure and other parties, whom I will not identify, intervened in the contacts engaged by Egypt, raising new hurdles for an agreement which was imminent, Mubarak said. Some Israeli newspapers have accused Meshaal s Syrian and Iranian backers of obstructing a deal. The soldier s captors have demanded the release of 1,000 Arab prisoners from Israeli jails. Since Gilad Shalit s capture, Israel has launched a massive offensive against the Gaza Strip, killing 60 Palestinians in the past week alone and striking the territory s infrastructure. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, speaking after talks on Wednesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, also referred to interference in mediation. We are dismayed that so far there are some who are merely intending to interfere to prevent a solution. That is not the proper course. A responsible course would be like that of the Egyptian efforts, he told reporters. Asked who he was referring to, he said: It seems the address may well be outside the Palestinian territories. He linked the alleged interference to an operation against Israeli troops on Wednesday by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which is allied with Syria and Iran. If these developments [on the Israeli-Lebanese border] are any indication, that s further evidence that the [interference was from outside], he said. But asked whether he meant Syria, he declined to say so. Egypt and the United States are to start holding frequent inter-ministerial consultations on key issues in the Middle East, Welch said Wednesday. I conveyed this morning an invitation from [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] to Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit to begin a high-level strategic dialogue between Egypt and the United States, Welch told reporters after meeting Abul-Gheit. The foreign minister has accepted this invitation, said Welch, who added that Abul-Gheit and an Egyptian delegation were expected in Washington on Tuesday. We will cover all the topics of interest in our relationship. This means naturally that we shall discuss the critical regional issues, that will include Iran, Iraq, issues of concern in Africa, for example Sudan and Somalia, and particularly the Israeli-Palestinian question, Welch said. He said the concept had been in the works for some time and stressed that a good format was needed for exchanges between two countries like Egypt and the United States that have important responsibilities on the global stage. Welch said that bilateral issues would also be discussed in the new framework, including political reform and human rights. Egypt, the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel, has acted as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and several other hotspots in the region. Welsch also called on Wednesday for the release of the two Israeli soldiers captured on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The Assistant Secretary of State told reporters that the capture of the soldiers, if confirmed, was a very dangerous escalation. This escalation puts at risk all the efforts that are being put by many to find a solution to the current situation ... We call for the release of those who have been captured if, as we understand, the news is true, he added. Welch, who was speaking from the Arab League s headquarters in Cairo, was on a tour of the Middle East that is due to bring him to Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Libya. Agencies
