Egypt's Shukri discusses Palestine-Israel negotiations with UN envoy

Sunday 03-05-2015 PM 12:32
Egypt's Shukri discusses Palestine-Israel negotiations with UN envoy
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CAIRO, May 3 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's foreign minister and the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process discussed reaching a "fair and permanent" solution leading to the creation of a Palestinian state, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. 

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov was received by the minister, Sameh Shukri and the two discussed efforts being made to revive the Palestine-Israel negotiations, which have been on hold since April 2014.

Shukri stressed, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's statement, the "necessity" of reaching a comprehensive solution which would create an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In addition, Mladenov and Shukri extensively addressed reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip and donors' commitment after making pledges at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference.

In October, Egypt and Norway co-hosted an international donors conference on the reconstruction of the Strip in Cairo.

Around $5.4 billion in donations were pledged but in December, Egypt said the donations were unpaid as a result of the "international community’s lack of trust in a permanent solution to halted indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas."

Mladenov arrived in Cairo late Friday, on his first visit to Egypt since taking up post last February. Cairo is one of the stops on his regional tour where he is also visiting Jordan, Israel, Ramallah and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

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