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Egypt meet sans Hamas, Israel

Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Sunday that he would be co-presiding an international summit meeting on Gaza in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt with that country’s President Hosni Mubarak. The objectives and aims of this hastily convened meeting where the main protagonists, Israel and Hamas, have been kept out remain vague.

According to diplomats from the region cited by the news agency Reuters, the principal aim of the meeting is to “show strong support “for President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in his attempts to put an end to the Gaza crisis.

“It is an attempt to reinforce his efforts for peace and the global dynamic that we have started, with the Franco-Egyptian peace plan” the agency quoted a French diplomat as saying. The diplomat added that for a lasting peace the region needed “more than a unilateral ceasefire” like the one declared but not fully honoured by Israel.

Other invitees include British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmmoud Abbas, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Following the meeting, the French President will go to Jerusalem to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Italian and Spanish Prime Ministers Silvio Berlusconi and Jose Luis Roderiguez Zapatero as well as Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League make up the complement of nine world leaders who will take part in the summit. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has also been asked to be present in his capacity as President of the European Union.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown said Britain, France and Germany were prepared to send naval ships to patrol the region so that arms are not smuggled into Gazs via the sea route.

On January 6 last, France and Egypt which is a co-president of the Union for the Mediterranean, had proposed a staged end to the crisis which since has turned into a major humanitarian disaster bordering on war. Under the first phase of the plan, Egypt would invite Israel to hold negations to secure the borders of Gaza to prevent the smuggling of arms destined for Hamas.

During the second phase, the Israelis were to announce the end of their offensive and the withdrawal of their forces as well as a lifting of the blockade against Gaza.

In short it was a trade off between the securing of Gaza’s frontiers to stop the arms trade against the opening of the checkpoints.

Despite the negations under way since January 6th fighting has continued unabated.

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