Israeli president discusses Mideast talks in Egypt

Israeli  president Shimon Peres held discussions in Egypt on Sunday on efforts to restart Middle East peace talks after the Egyptian president accused Israel of creating obstacles to a settlement with the Palestinians.                                           

Egypt, the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel, has long played a mediation role. That has recently included involvement in a bid to secure an Israeli soldier's release from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners.                                           

Speculation has been mounting that a deal to free Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners might be concluded by the end of this month. But sources on both sides have said there was no certainty of finalising a deal by then. 

A day before Peres arrived, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak told parliament that Israel was making "new obstacles" to peace. "I tell them, stop your practices in the West Bank and lift the siege on Gaza and respond to the call of peace," he said in a speech to mark the start of parliament's new session.                                           

Egypt and other Arabs have blamed the United States for not doing enough to push Israel to stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian land. Peres, whose post is largely ceremonial, last visited Egypt in July for talks with Mubarak. He was met in Cairo by foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a witness said.                                           

"The two presidents will discuss recent developments in the Middle East, advancing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and various bilateral issues on the agenda," the Israeli president's office said in a statement before the trip.

Mediation role                                          
An Israeli diplomat said the talks were also expected to cover Egypt's mediation between rival Palestinian factions. Egypt has been hosting reconciliation talks for more than a year between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group, which leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the Islamist group Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007. But there has been little sign of progress.                                          

Israeli and Palestinian sources said this month there were hopes a deal on Shalit, which would commence a process of exchange lasting weeks, might be struck when the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha begins later this week.                                           

Sources close to the negotiations have said Hamas, in the first part of a deal, would hand over Shalit to Egypt and Israel would release some 350 to 450 prisoners, some of whom would go into exile abroad rather than return to the West Bank or Gaza.

More prisoners would be released when Shalit was transferred from Egypt to Israel, while other prisoner releases could take several more weeks to complete.