Egypt signals support for talks

CAIRO, Egypt – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received measured support from Egypt on Tuesday for an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference despite widespread doubts in the Middle East that it will result in a lasting deal or improve security in the region.

Rice’s trip to Cairo was a diplomatic effort to persuade Arab capitals to attend the Bush administration’s summit, which has no date but is expected to take place before year’s end in Annapolis, Md. Egypt has been skeptical of the idea for weeks, but after meeting with Rice the country’s foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told reporters that he backed the plan.

“We are confident because she (Rice) says she is determined, and the president of the United States is determined to have a breakthrough during the remaining year of his administration,” said Aboul Gheit, who recently suggested the conference be postponed. “We have to believe them.”

He added that Rice “has helped us to understand the American objective. She shed a great deal of light on the current American efforts.”

It is not known which Egyptian officials will attend the summit, and Aboul Gheit hinted that the timeline could be pushed back if negotiations over the goals of the conference were unresolved. But his qualified endorsement is likely to help Rice when she meets later this week with King Abdullah II of Jordan. Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies; without their support an Israeli-Palestinian pact would have little chance of succeeding.

Both countries have grown agitated with Washington over the Iraq war, the instability in Lebanon and what they have regarded as the White House’s lack of engagement on the Israeli-Palestinian question. They fear that signing onto a peace conference without a guarantee to advance Palestinian hopes for statehood would further hurt their standing in the Arab world.

The Palestinians and the Israelis have yet to agree on a joint working document for the conference. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wants the summit to resolve statehood, Jewish settlements and other issues tied to the 1993 Oslo Peace Agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has suggested that negotiations to reach a final agreement be less specific.

Rice met with Palestinian and Israeli officials earlier in the week and is expected to resume talks today before traveling to Jordan.