Powell to meet soon Mubarak and Saudi Crown Prince

U.S Secretary of State Colin Powell will proceed to the Middle East Sunday in a bid to stop the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian lands.

Official sources in Washington said that Powell would start his mission by talks with President Hosni Mubarak, and Prince Abdullah, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and the Jordanian Monarch king Abdullah, before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian Leaderships.

Powell called upon Israel to stop the penetration of its troops in the Palestinian lands without delay.

Following his meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan El-Me'ashar, Powell said that Bush expects that Israel would start its withdrawal as early as possible.

According to Al-Ahram, US contacts are underway to arrange a meeting between Powell and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, but nothing was decided yet.

The sources said that the U.S. administration started contacts with Egypt and some Arab Leaderships to expound the vision declared by President Bush to get out of the current crisis and to realize a lasting peace in the region.