France seeks Arab support for peace initiative

France's foreign minister sought support from Arab states in Cairo on Wednesday for an initiative to relaunch talks between Palestinians and Israelis by the summer and prevent what one diplomat called the risk of a "powder keg" exploding.

"It is a powder keg waiting to explode," said a senior French diplomat ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to Egypt to discuss the issue with Arab ministers, referring to rising violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Everybody sees it, and yet nobody is doing anything. We know this isn't going to be resolved in three months, but it's imperative to give a new political horizon to the process."