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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Stepped up consultations
FOR NEARLY one hour on Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak met with Jordan's King Abdullah to exchange views on Middle East peacemaking. The meeting was part of stepped up consultations between Cairo and regional capitals on the stalled peace process. Mubarak also met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who stopped over in Cairo yesterday on his way to Washington for talks with US President Bill Clinton.Cairo also received messages delivered by special envoys from the United Arab Emirates' Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahayan and Oman's Sultan Qaboos.
Mubarak and Abdullah discussed the situation on the Israeli-Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks. Cairo and Amman are the only Arab capitals that signed peace treaties with Tel Aviv, in 1979 and 1994 respectively.
Abdullah briefed Mubarak on his recent tour of Europe, while Mubarak spoke about his meeting with Clinton in Washington last month and his evaluation of the situation in the region in light of the stalemate on the Syrian and Palestinian tracks and Israel's plan to withdraw unilaterally from southern Lebanon beginning next month.
Both leaders condemned Israel's plans to continue settlement building on the Golan Heights, according to Jordan's official news agency Petra. "The two leaders consider the decision by the Israeli government to resume its settlement activity in the occupied Arab Golan as a step that does not serve the peace process and creates an extra hurdle on the road to achieving a just and comprehensive peace," the agency said.
Abdullah will visit Israel on Sunday, his first as king, for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The Jordanian monarch was scheduled to travel to Israel in February but plans were cancelled following Israel's air raids on Lebanon. Abdullah will meet Arafat upon the Palestinian leader's return from Washington.
