Egypt's Minster of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy was set to meet with American Secretary of State John Kerry and a group of Arab foreign ministers on Sunday evening to discuss both the Arab Peace Initiative between Israel and Palestine and the ongoing crisis in Syria. Hosted by US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Martin Indyk and United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry, Fahmy and Kerry will meet with the foreign ministers from Friends of Syria – a group composed of Middle East countries that oppose Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. While in Paris, Fahmy will attend two "important" meetings, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atty. The first meeting, known as the Arab Peace Initiative Follow-on Committee, will be an overview of the current state of Palestinian and Israeli negotiations The second will be a ministerial meeting with the Friends of Syria discussing the Syrian civil war, and serve as a precursor to the upcoming Geneva II Middle East peace conference. Kerry is expected to attend both meetings, according to Atty. The Paris meetings follow a 21 December emergency meeting of the Arab League in which Arab foreign ministers called on the US, EU and UN "to commit the Israeli government to stop settlement activity." The Geneva II peace talks, scheduled for 22 January, will be the most serious effort to date to bring an end to the Syrian civil war which has been raging on for nearly three years. The National Coalition – the association of groups opposing Assad – will decide on Friday whether or not they will attend the peace talks. Fahmy is expected back in Cairo on Monday.
