El-Baz: Arab summit consultations continuing

Osama El-Baz, political advisor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, stated today that "consultations are continuing concerning the Arab summit."

In answering reporters' questions, El-Baz said the consultations are continuing to determine the exact aim of this summit, the participating countries and the Summit's final outcome.

He added that Martin Indyk, U.S. undersecretary of state for Middle East affairs, visiting Cairo, informed President Mubarak during their meeting of the latest developments in the U.S. efforts to convince the Israeli government to accept the U.S. redeployment initiative, within the U.S. administration's adherence to informing President Mubarak of the situation's developments.

El-Baz said that during their meeting, the talks tackled the U.S. administration's perception in moving the peace process in the coming two weeks, not only on the Palestinian track but on all tracks.

El-Baz stated that the U.S. is convinced that the situation has not yet reached a dead end and that they still believe it is their duty to continue their efforts.

Indyk met with President Mubarak, then with assistant foreign minister Ahmed Abu El-Ghait.