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Bid to unify Arab ranks
10/11/2007 21:23 - (SA)
Cairo - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Saturday in a bid to thrash out a common Arab position ahead of a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, his office said.
"President Mubarak has held separate talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and is expected to meet later with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh," presidential spokesperson Suleiman Awad told the official Mena news agency.
Mubarak "is continuing his efforts aimed at unifying Arab ranks", Awad said.
The US-sponsored peace conference is intended to end the seven-year hiatus in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
But Arab leaders have warned the meeting will be a waste of time unless it addresses the core issues of the conflict.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was also due in Cairo on Sunday as part of a diplomatic drive to muster support for the conference.
Washington has yet to set a formal date for the conference, although it is widely expected to take place in November in Annapolis, Maryland.
"The hope is that the Annapolis meeting comes out with tangible results which will pave the way for the other tracks in the peace process," said Awad.
The results would "pave the way for bringing up the question of the occupied lands in the Syrian Golan and also pave the way for peace between Israel and Syria and Lebanon", he added.
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