Egypt urges US to play ‘active’ Mideast peace role

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday urged the United States to help restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, a statement from the presidency said.

The statement came after al-Sisi met Abbas.

Abbas will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday for talks on reviving the “peace process.”

In a statement, al-Sisi said it was “important that the United States returns to play an active role in efforts to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.”

The two “agreed that the two-state solution is the only way to bring stability to the region,” it added.

According to al-Sisi, a 2002 Arab peace initiative should be the basis for a comprehensive solution.

The Saudi-led initiative offered normalized relations with Israel in exchange for resolving the decades-old conflict, in which the Fatah-affiliated PA leadership insists Israel give up land in exchange for a promised halt to the murder of innocent civilians.

When Abbas meets Trump on Wednesday it will be the first encounter between the two men, but will follow a series of US contacts with the PA chairman.

 

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