Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Saturday to discuss a wave of bloodshed at Jerusalem's holy sites and in the Palestinian territories.
The two leaders met in Mubarak's private residence rather than in the presidential palace, where such talks are usually held, officials at the presidency said.
The news media had no access to the residence.
The Palestinian ambassador to the Arab League, Mohammed Sobeih, said Arafat would brief Mubarak about the "dimensions of the bloody incidents which occurred at Haram al-Sharif," the MENA news agency reported.
Haram al-Sharif is the Muslim name for the compound in east Jerusalem that houses the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the third most sacred site in Islam.
Arafat would also inform the Egyptian leader about the situation in the Palestinian territories, Sobeih was quoted as saying.
Arafat arrived in Cairo amid a spreading wave of violence in the territories.
The Egyptian government blamed Israel for the "bloody violence" on Jerusalem's Temple Mount Friday, in which seven Palestinians were killed and 220 were wounded by Israeli security forces, according to a Palestinian toll.
Violence spread to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on Saturday, with 217 Palestinians reported wounded and one dead of his injuries.
In a statement on Friday, Mubarak's office said Egypt deplores "the bloody violence triggered today ... by the Israelis (who are) not concerned to reach peace."
It said Egypt regrets that these clashes occurred at a moment "when all the partners are deploying their efforts to overcome the obstacles that are hindering peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians."
Egypt, a key intermediary in the peace process, called on Israel "to take all measures (to ensure) that these sort of incidents are not repeated" so that the process can move forward.
Egypt's government newspaper Al-Gomhoriya on Saturday strongly condemned the visit by Israel's right-wing Likud party leader to the holy site, which is also sacred to the Jews and is known to them as Temple Mount.
It also attacked Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
"Watch out for Barak's statements after Sharon's crime," the newspaper's chief editor Samar Ragab said.
"Why does he suddenly talk now about two capitals for Israel and for the Palestinians in Jerusalem," wrote Ragab, who is close to Mubarak.
"He's a hypocrite. Don't believe him," he added -- CAIRO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
