Egypt talks with Abbas and Abdullah ahead of peace meet

By Will Rasmussen

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks on Thursday with Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to coordinate positions ahead of a U.S.-sponsored peace conference.

Egypt, a key Middle East U.S. ally and one of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has offered support for next week's meeting in Annapolis, Maryland on the creation of a Palestinian state, despite initial reservations.

"If the summit launches serious sustained negotiations on final status issues with a follow-up mechanism that is feasible, I think it will be a great step forward," an Egyptian diplomat said. He said Thursday's talks aimed at "consultation and coordination."

Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters a proposed follow-up mechanism to Annapolis would entail a series of meetings to review progress on both sides.

The talks would "discuss the obstacles hindering negotiations, and try to extend a helping hand to both the Palestinian and Israeli sides," said Awad. Russia and France had been touted as possible venues for follow-up meetings, he said.

The United States has invited about 40 countries -- including Saudi Arabia and Syria, which have no relations with the Jewish state -- to the meeting it hopes will launch negotiations to end the six-decade Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It was unclear how far the conference will go to tackle the core issues -- borders, security, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees -- that have defeated previous efforts to end the conflict.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been struggling to hammer out a joint document before the conference that would address core issues in general terms, and Awad said it was unclear whether a document would be ready by Tuesday.