Egypt presses Hamas to accept truce and halt missile attacks

EGYPT was trying to persuade Hamas yesterday to accept a truce that would halt rocket attacks on Israel in an effort to put an end to Gaza violence and salvage Middle East peace talks.

Deputies of Egypt’s intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, met with officials from the Islamic militant Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad in the Egyptian Sinai city of el-Arish, security officials said.

A truce was high on the agenda of the talks, said one security official.