SAUDI EGYPT MIDEAST TALKS

Saudi king to visit Egypt for Mideast talks Tue May 30, 7:59 AM ET RIYADH

(AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah is to visit Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ahead of an Israeli-Egyptian summit, a Saudi official said. Abdullah and Mubarak will meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the tense situation in the Palestinian territories, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.The monarch's trip will come ahead of a June 4 meeting between Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Those talks are due to focus on efforts to bring the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiation table, according to an Egyptian presidential spokesman.King Abdullah on Sunday received a telephone call from US President George W. Bush, the state SPA news agency reported.It said that during the conversation, Bush raised latest developments at the regional and international levels, notably the situation in the Middle East.

The Saudi king received a message the same day from Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.Israel has frozen all contact with the Palestinian Authority since the radical Islamist group Hamas won a January parliamentary election and went on to form its first government in March.Hamas and Abbas's rival Fatah faction have been holding talks to resolve their differences over the conflict with Israel and over control of the Palestinian security forces.Saudi Arabia, a main aid donor to the Palestinians, has good relations with Fatah leaders but has also hosted Hamas officials since the movement's election victory.

Jordan supports convening Mubarak-Abbas-Olmert summit in Sharm el SheikhJordan-Palestine, Politics, 5/30/2006 (arabicnews.com)

The Jordanian government official spokesman has expressed his country's support for convening a tripartite summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, between President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.The spokesman said that Jordan supports every effort exerted with the aim of bringing the parties back to direct negotiations in line with the roadmap plan.Nasser Gouda, the Jordanian government spokesman said that many Arab countries were currently seeking to contain the crisis of the arms smuggled by Hamas movement into Jordan.

He said that the crisis between Jordan and the Palestinian government has turned into a security problem which needs to be settled by the two sides, stressing the importance of finding a solution to the security problem and sending a Palestinian delegation to Amman for getting acquainted with the last developments of the issue.Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat lauded on Monday Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's efforts in support of the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.Al Arabiya news channel quoted Erekat as having said that the Egyptian President was exerting personal efforts with the Israeli, American and European sides in a bid to push ahead the stalled peace process between the two sides.

Talking about the planned meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert he hoped that the meeting would yield positive results that could help settle the conflict.