Former Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, will meet with Italian premier Giuliano Amato and Vatican officials during a snap visit to Rome Tuesday, the Israeli embassy announced.
The visit comes after the failure of US attempts to convene a Middle East summit to salvage a peace process shattered by almost two weeks of bloodshed.
Peres, who is srael's Regional Cooperation Minister, was to hold talks with the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and its foreign minister Jean-Louis Tauran later Tuesday.
He would then meet with Amato and Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini at the prime minister's office, the embassy said.
Dini was returning to Italy later Tuesday from talks with Jordanian leaders in Amman.
Peres was to address the Jewish community at the Italian capital's main synagogue late Tuesday – ROME (AFP)
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