PARIS: President Hosni Mubarak will hold talks on Middle East peace initiatives Monday lunchtime with French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, the Elysee palace said Saturday in a statement.
The meeting comes on the eve of Sarkozy s latest diplomatic tour to the region, with talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday with the leaders of Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The French president has already twice traveled to Egypt, in early January, and subsequently co-chaired a mini international summit with Mubarak before hosting US envoy George Mitchell and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the beginning of February.
Egypt has been mediating indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials for a lasting truce since the end of the 22-day Gaza war, which killed at least 1,330 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
The fighting ended when both Israel and the Gaza Strip s Islamist rulers called separate ceasefires on January 18.
However, the fragile calm has been tested by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and retaliatory air strikes. -AFP
