Moussa discusses moving peace process forward with Albright

Egyptian Foreign Minster Amr Moussa spoke on the phone yesterday with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to discuss the two countries' roles in the Middle East peace process in view of recent contacts between President Hosni Mubarak and US President Bill Clinton.

Earlier yesterday, the US State Department announced that Albright had postponed a scheduled visit to the Middle East until the end of the month at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

"Essentially what the trip will be designed to do will be to take stock of where all the parties are; what their positions are; and then be in a position to see whether down the road there are openings that one can try to advance," US State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

On the Syrian track, Rubin said, "We don't expect anything resembling a quick resumption of talks."

He added that the trip was to include Syria, Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.

An Egypt statement indicated that Albright's postponed trip was also to include stops in Egypt and Jordan.

During their discussion, Moussa and Albright agreed to continue consultations to advance the peace process.