Mubarak to visit Israel in November

EGYPTIAN president Hosni Mubarak plans to visit Israel in November, an Israeli official said yesterday, in what would be just his second visit to the Jewish state.

Mr Mubarak would attend ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to make a formal announcement.

Earlier yesterday Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a visit by Mubarak was likely part of his push to improve Israel's contacts with the Arab world.

"The Egyptian president is expected to arrive. We think he will probably come at the time of the marking of the decade since Rabin's murder. But we want the visit to have also bilateral implications," Mr Shalom told reporters.

Last week, Pakistani foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri held landmark talks with Shalom in Turkey following the pullout of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. Pakistan and Israel don't have diplomatic ties.