Levy not pleased with Egypt's position on multilateral talks

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy has expressed his discontent over statements by Egypt regarding the resumption multilateral negotiations which relate to economic activities.

During his meeting on Tuesday in occupied Jerusalem with the Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Muhammad Basyouni, Levy expressed his concern over the Egyptian position which sets preconditions to resuming the multilateral discussions.

Israel's foreign ministry said that "Ambassador Bassiouny responded that Egypt does not wish to condition multilateral progress on the resumption of negotiations with Syria, but that it would be desirable to wait until Syria also becomes part of the process. As such, during this preliminary phase, Egypt would support the convening of the professional committees -- in order to maintain momentum -- but would not agree to convene the steering committee until the talks with Syria are resumed."

Egypt had previously expressed that its position is meant to ensure that the outstanding problems of the region are dealt with once and for all in order to achieve real and permanent peace.