CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak will meet Javier Solana, the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, to discuss a Middle East peace plan, the Daily Star Egypt has learned.
According to sources contacted by telephone at the European Union in Brussels, the two-day talks will take place in Cairo and begin on Oct. 29.
Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit will also be present.
The Egyptian meeting is part of Solana’s six-day tour of the Middle East, which began yesterday in Israel.
Other stops on the tour include Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
As Palestinian factions struggle to form a unity government and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert works to solidify his administration’s majority, Solana’s tour is expected to be part of an EU plan designed to ensure that the lines of communication between Europe and the Middle East remain open.
Meanwhile, an EU diplomat, who declined to be named, told the Agence France-Press yesterday that it s absolutely essential that we remain engaged in talks.
“We have to help both sides, the diplomat said.
