Hebrew media: Preparations underway for five-member summit in Egypt

Egypt has proposed a five-member summit conference in Sharm Al-Sheikh in May in the presence of the heads of state of the USA, Israel, PA, Jordan and Egypt, according to Hebrew media.

An Israeli website quoted sources in Washington as saying that the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak proposed the idea during a visit for American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to the region.

The sources said that the Egyptians pointed out that US president George Bush would be visiting Israel to attend its 60th establishment anniversary on the land of Palestine in May.

They noted that Israel approved the idea but underlined that Cairo set the condition that essential progress in the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel should be realized before holding the summit.

For its part, the American administration asked the Egyptians to “purge” Sinai from “terrorist” elements especially Al-Qaeda and arms smuggling networks.