EU's "big five" and Egypt to hold Middle East talks in Brussels

Oct 14, 2010, 17:12 GMT

Brussels - Foreign ministers from France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, along with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, are set to discuss the Middle East peace process with their Egyptian counterpart in Brussels, diplomats said Thursday.

The meeting takes place as Israeli-Palestinian talks remain in limbo, after Israel's 10-month moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements expired at the end of last month.

'It is very important to hear from the Egyptian colleague's own voice what is the best path for the negotiations,' Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on the fringe of a NATO meeting.

Talks are set to take place over dinner, on the eve of Friday's Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting that Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was due to attend.

Frattini said the group would also hear from French and Spanish colleagues Bernard Kouchner and Miguel Angel Moratinos over their weekend visit to Jerusalem, during which they were bluntly told by their Israeli counterpart that the EU should solve its own problems before intervening in the conflict.

Italy's top diplomat said that that demonstrated the need for EU countries to stop competing for the leadership of different mediation efforts.

'In the Middle East peace process, Europe should have the High Representative for foreign policy (Ashton), not a multiplication of various initiatives,' Frattini said.

The Italian foreign minister had himself toyed with the idea of leading a selected group of European colleagues to visit Gaza, but has since given up on the idea.

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