Mideast peace conference planned

Israel, Egypt and the United States are working to organise a Mideast peace conference in October to co-ordinate an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Moshe Debi, an adviser to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, said the sides were planning to hold the conference in New York at the level of foreign ministers.

But an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his country preferred to hold the conference in Cairo at the presidential level.

A senior US official, who also asked not to be named, said Washington supports the initiative, which was first proposed by Egypt earlier this month.

The conference would focus on planning between Israel, Egypt, the United States and the Palestinians for “the day after” an Israeli pullout from Gaza, the US official said.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat confirmed the Palestinians had been approached about the idea.

“We welcomed it and we said that we would participate,” he said.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements by the end of September 2005. Egypt and the United States have been heavily involved in planning and co-ordinating the pullout. Sharon refuses to negotiate with the Palestinians.