MIDDLE EAST: President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will host a mini-summit with Syria and Saudi Arabia this weekend to iron out differences from the last Arab summit and review the latest Middle East peace efforts.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is due to arrive at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh today and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz will join them later in the day.
The two-day talks will focus on "Arab moves to put an end to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the results of Prince Abdullah's visit to the United States," one senior Egyptian official said late on Thursday. Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, has been pushing for an initiative offering a comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for the Israel's withdrawal from all Arab territories seized in the 1967 war and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.
But the summit's agenda could be disrupted as Israel seemed poised to launch an offensive in the Gaza Strip. Egypt is particularly concerned at the prospect of such an operation just across its border.
Egypt has warned Israel against a repeat in the Gaza Strip of its massive offensive in the West Bank. Mr Mubarak sent two messages yesterday, one to President Bush, urging him to prevent such a move by the Israeli government, and another to the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, calling for restraint.
Mr Mubarak also warned that such an operation would jeopardise the efforts exerted by all the parties to find a solution to the Middle East crisis.
He was referring to the continuing consultations between Mr Bush and the Saudi crown prince following their meeting two weeks ago in the US.
Saudi Arabia is hoping to garner full support from Egypt and Syria, two major regional players, in the peace efforts it has undertaken jointly with Washington, an Arab diplomat said. The Arab diplomat added the three leaders were also expected to adopt a common position on a proposed Middle East peace conference. The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal said yesterday that the kingdom had seen a new, pro-active US stance on the Middle East which would help bring the Israelis and Arabs back to the negotiating table. "There is a ray of hope. The door is open," Prince Saud said in Cairo.
"It is the position of the United States that has now turned into a pro-active position, that is going towards \ the bull by the horns, pursuing the peace process and developing a process which will bring us back to the negotiating table."