EGYPT: German FM Steimeier visits Egypt for talks on Middle East situation

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Egypt on Saturday (July 22) for the first stop in a tour of the Middle East where he plans to meet senior Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian officials to discuss the conflict the region. Steinmeier met his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo on Saturday. At a news conference following their meeting Steinmeier referred to the Israeli hostage taken in Gaza on June 25. He said that negotiations could not take place right now. "There is no mediation situation in existence at the moment in which Germany could play a part. So I have only been able to thank my Egyptian counterpart for efforts being undertaken regarding the hostage-taking in Gaza. Efforts in respect of an exchange of prisoners are not to be undertaken in the short term, as far as I can understand," Steinmeier said. Aboul-Gheit told reporters that Egypt was calling for an end to armed hostilities. "We are calling for ceasefire, this is the beginning, a ceasefire that will combined with a number of arrangements including the exchange," he said, referring to the demands to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldier. On leaving Egypt Steinmeier is to travel to Israel where he plans to meet Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday (July 23) as well as the country's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and its Defence Minister Amir Peretz. Later that day Steinmeier is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and some countries in the European Union have called for Israel and Hizbollah militants to immediately cease all hostilities to avoid an escalation and further civilian casualties in Lebanon. However, a German government spokesman said Berlin backed a statement issued last weekend at a summit of leaders from the Group of Eight rich nations. The G8 put the onus on Hizbollah to create conditions for an end to the fighting by returning Israeli hostages and ending its shelling of Israeli towns. Once this happened, Israel would also have to cease all military operations in Lebanon, the spokesman said, summarising the G8 declaration.

ITN Source | July 23, 2006

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