France to continue efforts for conference on Mideast crisis

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said Monday that senior Egyptian and French officials would a hold a meeting in Paris by the weekend to discuss practical steps to convene an international conference to salvage the Middle East peace process.

Moussa said the planned meeting would pave the way for a meeting with his French peer on the occasion of the UN General Assembly.

Egypt and France are trying to convene an international conference to break the prolonged stalemate in the peace process.

Asked about fresh U.S. bids to move the process forward, Moussa said "a balanced and reasonable agreement" between Palestine and Israel would be a good step toward restoring the peace process' credibility.