Cairo, Aug. 21: The Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, accepted an invitation to attend the start of direct peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Washington next month, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
“President Mubarak welcomed the Quartet’s statement and confirmed his acceptance of President Barack Obama’s invitation to participate in the launch of direct talks” at the beginning of September, the official Al-Ahram reported.
On Friday, the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, invited Mr Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II to the launch of the first direct talks between the Palestinian and Israeli leaders since December 2008.
The Palestinian President, Mr Mahmud Abbas, had refused face-to-face talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, but accepted the invitation after key powers reiterated a call for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands it conquered in 1967.
Israel has already accepted the invitation issued on Friday for the Sept. 2 talks.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese aid ship aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of Israel will “probably be delayed,” organisers said, on the eve of its planned departure, after Cyprus denied use of its waters and ports.