Egypt says reassured on U.S. Mideast peace commitment

By Alaa Shahine and Arshad Mohammed

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt said talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday restored its confidence in the Bush administration's plans for a conference this year on peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

"We are encouraged because she (Rice) says she is determined ... to have a breakthrough during the remaining year of this administration," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

"We have to believe them. I cannot doubt them ... What we heard gave us lots of confidence," added the minister, who said on Monday it might be necessary to postpone a Middle East peace conference expected by the end of the year.

Rice said: "President (George W.) Bush has made it a high priority, one of his highest priorities, to try to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state... We are going to put maximum effort into fulfilling all of our obligations."

A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice said she had made progress in mustering Egyptian support for the meeting, making it easier to mobilize broader Arab backing.

"You want them (the Egyptians) ahead of the rest of the relatively silent Arab world because otherwise you will never bring the rest of them along. This is key to moving this thing along," added the official, who asked not to be named.

Rice and Aboul Gheit were speaking at a news conference after Rice had talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who like other Arab leaders had cast doubt on whether the United States has done enough to lay the groundwork for the meeting.

As Egypt stepped back from its skepticism about U.S. peace efforts, the U.S. secretary of state took a softer than usual line on the Egyptian government's recent crackdown on its political opponents and the independent press.