Livni to discuss Arab initiative in Cairo

In an attempt to advance peace talks based on the Arab League's peace initiative, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Thursday.

In her first diplomatic meeting since the publication of the Winograd report, Livni will also meet with Jordan and Egypt's foreign ministers, who were authorized by the Arab League to discuss its peace initiative with Israel.

During the Arab League's Riyadh summit in March, the peace initiative, which was first introduced in 2002, was revived.

The plan calls for Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, Israel's acceptance of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in return for the establishment of normal relations with the Arab world in the context of a comprehensive peace.

Israel on its part, plans to participate in talks on the plan, but will insist on avoiding the initiative's main topics, namely the Palestinian refugees' right of return, retreating to the 1967 borders and dividing Jerusalem.

Livni's visit to Egypt is just one of the ways in which Israel plans to promote the diplomatic process. Parallel to Livni's meeting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will continue to hold direct meetings, as well as a secret dialogue concerning the future Palestinian state.

In her meeting with the Egyptian president, Livni is expected to raise the matter of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since his kidnapping in June 2006.