Washington's Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in Cairo on Wednesday night on the latest stop in his trip to the region to revive stalled Middle East peace talks, according to dpa. Mitchell is scheduled to brief Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on Thursday regarding his conversations in Israel and Lebanon over the past two days. The envoy arrived from Lebanon, where he held quick consultations with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. Earlier in the day, he met for about two hours in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but like the meeting between the two on Tuesday, this ended without agreement on the question of the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. No details were forthcoming form the meeting, which was nonetheless described as "good." Mitchell will return to Israel on Friday after consultations with Arab states in the region. The Palestinians are demanding a total freeze of all Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank, while Netanyahu has said he is willing to accept only a temporary and limited moratorium. The Israeli premier has said that, while he continues the policies of previous governments to build no new settlements, he will also allow the construction of nearly 3,000 new apartments within existing ones. Building in Jewish neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem will also continue, he has vowed. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reiterated late Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would not meet with Netanyahu without an Israeli freeze on all settlement activities including building to accommodate population expansion, or so-called "natural growth."
