国际英语新闻：Egyptian FM, UN chief meet ahead of Quartet meeting

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit held talks here on Saturday with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ahead of an upcoming meeting of the international Quartet on the Middle East.

    The talks between Abul Gheit and Ban focused on Egypt's efforts to push forward the Mideast peace process, particularly the peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israel.

    They also discussed the Egyptian mediation to help heal the current inter-Palestinian rift and reach a Palestinian national reconciliation.

    Ban arrived in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier in the day to attend the Quartet meeting on Nov. 9.

    The international Quartet, which groups the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, will evaluate the development of the Mideast peace process, particularly the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.

    At the U.S.-hosted Annapolis conference on Mideast peace last November, Palestinian and Israeli leaders pledged to try to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008.

    But the United States confessed that there are slim chances for the two sides to reach a deal in the year.

    U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also arrived Saturday in the Egyptian resort for the Quartet meeting, said Thursday that a year-end target date for a Palestinian-Israeli agreement was no longer realistic.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit (R) meets with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm El-Sheikh on Nov. 8, 2008. Rice arrived here Saturday to attend the Middle East Quartet Principals Meeting, to be held on Sunday