Mubarak receives Solana Thursday

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will receive Thursday Javier Solana, EU Foreign and Security Chief, who will pay a visit for talks on recent developments in the Middle East region, according to Cristina Gallach, a Spokeswoman for Solana.

The visit comes as part of a regional tour that will include Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian self-rule lands and Israel.

The spokeswoman said that Solana really appreciated the role Mubarak is playing on the regional and international arena in order to reach a permanent and just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

She said the US, UN, EU and Russia understand the difficulties the current phase is facing given Arab doubts in the seriousness of Israeli Prime Minister -Ariel Sharon to reach peace.

She added that the four international sides are focusing on re-building the Palestinian security and administrative bodies, backing the PA's efforts to carry out reforms and holding an international peace conference.

She said Solana will also meet in Cairo with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.