Arafat in Cairo for Talks with Mubarak on Mideast Situation

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Cairo on December 6 for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the ongoing situation in the Palestinian territories, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

Arafat is expected to discuss with Mubarak on the development of the "dangerous situation" in the occupied territories, MENA quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying.

The Palestinian territories have been rocked by the nine-week bloody clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian protestors. The violence has left more than 300 people dead, most of them Palestinians, and thousands more wounded.

Arafat frequently visits Egypt to consult with and get advice from Mubarak, who, as the president of the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, plays a key mediatory role in the Middle East peace process.






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