Egypt News

Peres spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch confirmed the Arab peace plan would "come up" when he meets President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia first proposed the peace initiative in 2002. It offers pan-Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from Arab lands captured in 1967. The 22-member Arab League has since endorsed the plan.
There was no immediate comment from Egypt or the Arab League on Peres' intention.
Earlier this week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak endorsed the idea as a "basis for a discussion on overall regional peace." Peres and Barak have discussed the issue with Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni. Her office has refused to comment.
Israel's outgoing Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has welcomed the Saudi plan, but he and other leaders want to keep small parts of the territories captured in 1967.
Israel also objects to language that appears to endorse a large-scale return of Palestinian refugees to lands inside Israel. Israel says a massive influx of Palestinians would destroy the country's Jewish character.
Peres, Israel's ceremonial president, first proposed putting Israel's various peace talks on one track last month at the United Nations, calling on Saudi King Abdullah to "further his initiative." He has since been pushing the idea in meetings with Israeli, Arab and Western officials, his office said.
While Peres has no formal role in Israeli foreign policy, he is a Nobel peace laureate and well respected in the international community.
Peres and Mubarak are to meet Thursday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik. Peres' office said talks would also focus on the fate of a kidnapped Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip and the global financial crisis.
Egypt has been brokering a potential prisoner exchange between Israel and Gaza's Hamas leaders. Hamas is holding an Israeli soldier captured more than two years ago in a cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel.

EGYPT NEWS

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