Egypt is still recovering from celebrations over January’s Africa Nations Cup. There was the minor achievement: winning the title for the seventh time and for the fourth time in a row. Then there was the major achievement: a crushing 4-0 victory over Algeria, who had three players sent off, in the semifinals.
If you’re uncertain why news and sports commentators continue to discuss Egypt’s successes, and in particular the win over Algeria, with such national pride and vigour, just think Germany and England. That’s possibly a fair resemblance to Algeria and Egypt.
But not entirely. In most issues, bilateral relations between Egypt and Algeria are stable. Even in music, there is mutual pride: the two countries share the famous female artist “Warda”, born in Algeria and finding fame in Egypt. However, sports encounters, especially football, always, without fail, lead to tensions.
One PA official stated that Netanyahu was now apparently ready to recognize the pre-1967 borders as the basis for future talks and was ready to swap territory between the two countries. He added, “We’re beginning to hear new things from Israel. For the first time an Israeli government is willing to negotiate with us on the basis of the 1967 borders, and this is an encouraging move.”
“Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could be relaunched as early as February,” added another PA official in Ramallah.
Meanwhile, Egyptian sources told the Cairo-based daily Al-Ahram on Monday that Barack Obama’s administration will put forward a plan whereby Israel would commit itself to the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years of the launch of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Read the rest of this entry »
On Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “I can’t talk about details, but the prime minister was discussing positions that surpass in our estimate what we’ve heard from them in a long time. I can’t say that he has come with changed positions, but he is moving forward.”
Are we getting glimpses of an emerging picture, one which will be completed when Egypt brings Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to the negotiating table?
On Thursday, Netanyahu called for a meeting with Abbas later in January at the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. ”There is a possibility of a breakthrough surrounding the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority which was proposed during Netanyahu’s talks with Mubarak,” senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said. Read the rest of this entry »
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from meetings in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Netanyahu said, “I was very encouraged by the commitment of President Mubarak toward promoting the peace process between us and the Palestinians. I expect and hope to see such readiness on part of the Palestinian Authority.”
In Cairo, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit praised Netanyahu and his proposal on restarting peace talks with the Palestinians. despite the Israeli decision to build 700 more apartments in East Jerusalem. Gheit said, “I can’t talk about details, but the prime minister was discussing positions that surpass in our estimate what we’ve heard from them in a long time. I can’t say that he has come with changed positions, but he is moving forward.”
On Sunday, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Peres stated that Israel was ready to stop settlement construction in the West Bank as soon as negotiations with Palestinians started:
The minute we shall start to negotiate there won’t be new settlements, there won’t be confiscation of land. Unfortunately, it’s a marginal issue; it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons. My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement.
Asked about Peres’s words regarding settlements, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he was unaware of any new peace initiative, as he appointed the former ambassador to the United Nations, Yitzhak Levanon, as Israel’s new envoy to Cairo.
Lieberman may be trying to ameliorate his personal image in Cairo through a new accommodation but Peres’s dovish statement is still far from satisfying the people of the region. There was no clarification whether his promise would include a full halt of construction, given Israel’s standard condition of “natural growth”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Peres’s words so far yet he also emphasized that Jerusalem and “natural growth” would not be included in any deal with the Palestinians.
On Thursday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said,”I have told our brethren in the Palestine Liberation Organization…that I have no desire to run in the forthcoming election” on 24 January.
The head of the PLO Executive Committee, Yasser Abed Rabbo, quickly announced that the committee had rejected Abbas’ announcement. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri jumped in to allege Abbas was bluffing, urging his Western friends to put pressure on Israel. Zuhri suggested an alternative course, “We advise him to…face the Palestinian people and tell them frankly that the path of negotiations has failed. Halt negotiations with the occupation and take practical steps toward reconciliation.” Read the rest of this entry »
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit spoke to the public after a meeting they had with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
A day earlier, Egyptian Foreign Minister was asking for guarantees for Palestinians and was warning all sides “not to waste time”, even as Clinton was playing up “unprecedented concessions” by Israel on settlements. At the conference, this translated into an amiable exchange of Gheit’s satisfaction with Washington’s “unchanged” position and Clinton’s repetition of her rhetoric “calling both sides on the negotiation table.” Read the rest of this entry »
Christina Baghdady writes for EA:
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Following claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 
On Tuesday, 
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from meetings in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
On Sunday, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Peres stated that 
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit spoke to the public after a meeting they had with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
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