Egypt Gives Rice Cautious Support for Mideast Conference
By VOA News
16 October 2007
Egypt has offered cautious support to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for U.S. plans to host a Middle East peace conference later this year.
Rice met Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, as part of increased efforts to narrow the gap between Israel and the Palestinians.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the meeting gave Egypt a lot of trust and confidence in American intentions for the conference.
Earlier, Egypt expressed doubt that the United States had done enough preparatory work.
Rice and Aboul Gheit said the timing of the conference depends on progress in Israeli-Palestinian talks about a joint document to be finalized at the meeting.
Rice already has had separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during her Middle East visit. She tried to get them to narrow their differences on the joint document.
The Palestinians want the joint document to address core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, such as borders, Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlements.
Israel's Prime Minister Olmert wants a more vague statement. He says agreement on a joint document is not a prerequisite for the conference.
On Monday, Rice said it is time for the establishment of a Palestinian state. She said President Bush has made ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "one of the highest priorities of his administration."
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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