Arafat in Cairo to study Mid East issues with mubarak

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will start this Saturday a two-day visit to Egypt for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the latest developments in the Middle East.

During the meeting, Arafat and Mubarak will discuss the future of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks after Israel suspended the implementation of the Wye River peace agreement, Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Zohdi el Qedra told Egypt's Middle East News Agency Friday.

Israel has said it will not continue to implement the agreement signed last October on further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank if the Palestinians do not meet its demands, including the cancellation of a plan to declare a Palestinian state next May.

Meanwhile, Israel's early parliament elections, expected to be held between March and June, will put off for months the implementation of the accord, under which Israel has carried out the first phase of the troop pullback.

The talks are expected to cover the latest U.S.-British military strikes against Iraq and Yemen's call for an urgent Arab summit in this regard, said the ambassador.