PLO official denies that Abbas, Netanyahu to meet in Cairo
Wed, 25/05/2016 - 13:40 Al-Masry Al-Youm
http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/plo-official-denies-abbas-netanyahu-meet-cairo

The Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organisation,Yasser Abed Rabbo, has denied a report published by Israeli
newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that announced a meeting between President Sisi,
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas, describing
it as "strange and baseless".

Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Rabbo said that Hamas' rejection of recent
French efforts to bring about peace talks was a demonstration of "political
stupidity".

Hazem Abu Shanab, a member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, said the
report published by Yedioth Ahronoth about a trilateral summit in Cairo was
false, adding that Israeli media is circulating rumors in an attempt to
sabotage the French peace initiative by claiming it will be replaced by a
summit in Cairo.

Official sources said that nothing is finalized about a meeting between
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Netanyahu and Abu Mazen to follow up on
Sisi's call of last week for reconciliation between Palestinians and
Israelis. The sources confirmed, nonetheless, that if the meeting goes
ahead, it will be held in Cairo.

Rabbo's comments follow a report published in Israeli newspaper Yedioth
Ahronoth that claimed Egypt is in the process of arranging an imminent
meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance of Egypt's President Sisi in
Cairo, said Youm7 news outlet.

Sisi, according to the newspaper, is pushing for the revival of negotiations
between Palestinians and Israelis, after Netanyahu rejected the French peace
initiative earlier this month.

Following a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault,
Netanyahu stated on May 15 that, "The only way to advance genuine peace
between us and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations between us
and them, without preconditions," Reuters reported at the time.

On May 17, French President Francois Hollande announced that Paris-hosted
peace talks between the two nations — which had been scheduled for the same
month — would be postponed until later in the summer. Hollande said that
this was because US Secretary of State, John Kerry, could not attend the
date.

In a speech given the same day, Sisi called on both Palestine and Israel to
revive peace talks, stating that a resolution to the Palestinian case would
bring resolution to conflicts in the Middle East at large. Speaking at the
inauguration of an infrastructure project in Assiut, south Egypt, Sisi
promoted the universal benefits of solving the Palestine issue, putting
forward Egypt as a mediator for talks. He encouraged Israeli media to give
thorough coverage to his speech.

Following Sisi's speech, Reuters reported, Netanyahu warmly received Sisi's
remarks and found the Egyptian President's efforts "encouraging".