EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has arrived in Cairo for high-level talks aimed at re-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Mr. Solana will be meeting with President Hosni Mubarak and his top political adviser, Osama Al-Baz, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.
Mr. Solana is in Cairo for several days as part of the European Union's attempts to get the Middle East peace process back on track.
Mr. Solana arrived in Cairo after stops in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where he met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
In addition to meeting with Mr. Solana, Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher will meet with the E.U. peace envoy for the Middle East, Miguel Moratinos. Later this month Mr. Maher travels to Washington for talks that are expected to focus on the Middle East as well as the campaign against terrorism.
Late Monday, the foreign minister told Egyptian television (Nile TV) that Egypt "will not accept a U.S. attack on any Arab country under the pretext of fighting terrorism." He says such an attack would be a quote, "big mistake on the part of the United States."