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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Egypt hosts a summit on Sunday of several
European leaders and UN chief Ban Ki Moon, seeking a lasting truce
in Gaza after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in its war
against Hamas.
The meeting takes place on the day that Israel
began a unilateral ceasefire after a 22-day offensive against the
impoverished enclave, although militants have since fired rockets
into Israel and exchanged fire with Israeli forces.
Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey
and Jordan will be represented at the meeting in the Red Sea resort
of Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian government official, who requested
anonymity, told Agence France-Presse.
In Paris, the office of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy said he would co-chair the summit along with his Egyptian
counterpart Hosni Mubarak, who has sought to broker an end to the
fighting under a truce plan.
The respective offices of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero, whose country has played a mediation role in the conflict,
said they would attend.
Merkel, Sarkozy and Zapatero all said they would
travel to Israel after the meeting.
In London, Downing Street declined to confirm
that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown would be among the
participants in Sharm el-Sheikh.
But the Italian government said Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi would attend the summit before heading to Israel
for talks with Israeli authorities.
Ban Ki Moon, on a tour of the region to secure a
Gaza ceasefire, also confirmed his participation while in Beirut.
He condemned as “outrageous” the bombing by
the Israeli military of a UN-run school in the Gaza Strip in which
two people were killed.
A Turkish government official says President
Abdullah Gul will take part, although the invitation was extended to
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is unable to go due to a
previously scheduled visit to Brussels.
Diplomatic sources said earlier that Palestinian
President Mahmud Abbas was invited but would not attend as he held
talks with Mubarak in Cairo late Saturday.
After the meeting, Mubarak is to travel to
Kuwait on Monday for an Arab summit on the Gaza crisis that is
expected to highlight divisions between participating states over
how to end the conflict.
The initiative called for an immediate ceasefire
and allowing humanitarian aid into the impoverished enclave as well
as ending arms smuggling between Egypt and Gaza.
-- AFP
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