Sharon denies that Egypt refuses to receive him

Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon's office has denied reports that Sharon has submitted a request to the Egyptian government to hold a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa.

The office added the Egyptian leadership rejects all Israeli requests to hold such a meeting due to the setback in the Middle East peace process as well as suspending the implementation of the Wye River accord.

For its part, the Israeli foreign minister has asserted that his government insists that the Palestinian side should abide by all its commitments. In statements broadcast on Wednesday by Israeli radio, Sharon did not refer to his government's commitments concerning the implementation of the Wye River accord.

He denied a report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz that he intends to visit Cairo soon to hold consultations regarding the negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Israeli daily said that Egypt refuses to hold meetings with Sharon due to the Israeli government freezing the implementation of the Wye agreement.