Israeli liberal party delegation to visit Egypt

JERUSALEM: A delegation of Israel s liberal Meretz party will travel to Cairo on Sunday to meet with Egyptian officials, the party said in a statement. The delegation will be headed by party chief Yossi Beilin, a veteran Israeli dove, and is due to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and Ossama El-Baz, political aide to President Hosni Mubarak, it said. The talks will touch on the situation in the Gaza Strip after militants from the Islamist Hamas movement overran forces loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the territory on June 15. Egypt s role in stabilizing the political situation in the region and the freeing of an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza militants a year ago will also be on the agenda, it said.