Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said upon his return to Cairo that his diplomatic mission to Israel had failed, said reports.
"It is not a secret that talks failed to bring about a convergence of our points of view," Maher told journalists.
Maher arrived in Jerusalem Thursday on the first public visit to Israel by a top Egyptian official since the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took office this spring.
In Jerusalem the Egyptian foreign minister met Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, President Moshe Katsav, and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. "I came to Jerusalem, the city of peace, on a mission of peace on behalf of President Mubarak," Maher told Sharon.
Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy negotiated the trip during a secret visit to Cairo earlier this week after Mubarak asked to send Maher to Israel and the PA to try to defuse the dangerous situation of escalating violence over the past week, said the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz.
Maher also met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat whose personal safety was of concern to Egypt after two Israeli raids targeted sites adjacent to his headquarters in Gaza and Ramallah during the week – Albawaba.com
