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Short Takes:
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived at Cairo today and convened as soon as he arrived a bilateral summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak concerning coordination and consultation between the two presidents regarding the latest developments of the Middle East peace process. Zohdi El-Kedra, Palestine's ambassador in Cairo, told ArabicNews.com that Arafat held a summit with President Mubarak to consult concerning the latest developments in the peace process in light of Israel obstructing the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement and not releasing the Palestinian prisoners according to the Sharm El-Sheikh note. Go

"The Rabat-Algiers axis has to be put on track and ranks united," Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa told a Moroccan daily. In an interview with "Al Bayane," the head of the Moroccan diplomacy hoped that 2000 will mark the start of turning the pages of the past. It is high time we started building a joint market for the Arab Maghreb and we dismantled the borders, he went on. Go

The Syrian negotiating delegation under the chairmanship of Foreign Minsiter Farouk al-Sharaa is to leave Damascus on Saturday to participate in the coming round of negotiations with Israel which start on January 3 in the USA. Official Syrian sources said al-Sharaa will continue to head the delegation for several days, then he will leave the committee to resume the negotiations in case of achieving a progress, saying that in case of an essential progress in the negotiations Syria will be ready to participate in the multilateral negotiations. Go

Jordan's King Abdullah II and members of his accompanying delegation left al-Madina al-Mounawara on Monday, concluding a visit to Saudi Arabia which lasted for two days, during which he performed al-Omra rituals and visited the prophet's holy mosque. Go

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is meeting today with Mohamed Othman El-Merghani, the leader of the Sudanese opposition coalition, the Democratic National Alliance. Go

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met with World Bank deputy chairman Ismail Serag El-Din, who said after the meeting that they reviewed developments concerning international issues in general, especially the issue of projects for youths and ending unemployment, in addition to issues concerning financing development in UN organizations. Go

Iranian Minister of Oil Bijan Zanganeh said that OPEC, during its March meetings, will likely extend for several months the production cuts it enacted this year to stabilize the price of oil, Gulf News reported. Go

Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa said Morocco will accredit, for the first time, an ambassador to the European Union, in addition to the ambassador posted in Brussels. Go

Large amounts of snow fell in Naama state in Algeria, coinciding with stormy winds that resulted in killing two persons and heavy material losses. The two-meter snow also resulted in the collapse of houses and collapse 23 families, uprooting of trees and electricity and telephone lines damages and the death of 10,000 cattle. Go

An official source in Cairo said on Sunday that four drug smugglers were killed during armed confrontations that took place on Sunday with the police in the Nile Delta, northern Egypt. Go

The Spanish Guardia Civil arrested early this week 20 sub-Saharan nationals on board of a pneumatic raft off the city of Sebta's coast, reports the daily "El Pais." The raft was trying to avoid patrols and cross the Gibraltar Strait with passengers, including a pregnant woman. Go

Qatar Airways, which said it is Y2K compliant, said that it plans to cancel its New Years Eve flights as a result of a lack of passengers, Gulf Times reported. Go