Foreign ministers hold first high-level meeting

The foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan, a Muslim country that has long taken a hard line against the Jewish state, met publicly for the first time today, a diplomatic breakthrough that follows Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom hailed the meeting as “historic” and said that following the Gaza withdrawal it is “the time for all of the Muslim and Arab countries to reconsider their relations with Israel".