An Egyptian - Israeli - Palestinian summit will be held Monday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm al Sheikh, Egyptian sources said Sunday. According to them, during the talks, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will stress the need that future Israeli withdrawal from West Bank areas should be coordinated with the Palestinian side, Asharq al Awsat newspaper reported.
The Egyptian side hopes to restart the Middle East peace talks with this summit, which will include Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A meeting between Olmert and Abbas would be the first between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Egypt since February 2005, when Mubarak brokered a cease-fire during meetings with then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Palestinians in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Asharq al Awsat also reported that Hamas is expected to declare on Monday the Arab peace initiative, which was adopted at 2002 Arab summit in Beirut. This initiative says that Arab countries will normalize relations with Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from Arab territories occupied in 1967 and an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
