CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian unity talks, an official said.
President Abbas and President Mubarak met over breakfast and discussions are ongoing, an official at the presidency said on condition of anonymity. Palestinian officials are currently engaged in efforts to form a national unity government including both the radical governing Hamas and Abbas s mainstream Fatah movement. Such a move would be expected to result in the lifting of a western blockade on financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. Abbas is also expected to meet with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, while the sponsors of the Middle East peace process, known as the quartet, are due to meet in the Egyptian capital Wednesday. US Middle East envoy David Welch will represent Washington. His counterparts Marc Otte, Sergei Iacovlev, Alvaro de Soto will represent the European Union, Russia and the United Nations respectively. Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli hit out at the quartet for not doing enough to rein in the deadly offensive launched by Israel after the capture of a soldier by Gaza-based militants in June. The quartet drafted the roadmap peace plan which has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003.
