国际英语新闻：Official: Egypt seeks to hold meeting between Abbas, Netanyahu

RAMALLAH, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official said Friday that Egypt is exerting efforts to hold a summit meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo.

    Ahmed Majdalani, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua that the aim of the meeting "is to resume the stalled peace negotiations."

    "The Egyptians are carrying out very important movements towards pushing forward the stalled Middle East peace process," said Majdalani, adding "the Egyptian efforts had never stopped and it goes in full coordination with the Palestinian leadership."

    The Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations had stopped in December 2008 after Israel insisted to keep constructing housing units in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

    Asked about the possibility of holding a summit meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu, Majdalani said "the problem is not with holding summits and meetings, the main issue is Israel's commitments to the Roadmap peace plan."

    "The requirements of resuming the stalled peace talks with Israel are clear: halting all settlement activities and ending the conflict based on the principle of the two-state solution," said Majdalani.

    He reiterated that the Palestinian leadership is not against the resumption of the peace talks. "We want to resume the peace talks from the point where it had stopped and have guarantees that it would end within an agreeable schedule."