German foreign minister starts talks in Israel

Middle East News

Jul 6, 2009, 5:42 GMT

Jerusalem - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier began talks with Israeli leaders Monday morning as part of a 40-hour trip to Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and possibly Ramallah. Steinmeier landed in Tel Aviv before dawn and opened his talks by meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres at his Jerusalem residence. He was scheduled next to tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance institute, before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and opposition leader Tzipi Livni later in the day. A planned parley with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah is not expected to take place because Abbas is visiting Jordan for talks on forming a Palestinian unity government with the rival Hamas movement. A key aspect of the discussions with Israel's right-leaning government is expected to be US and European Union calls for a halt to settlement construction in the occupied territories. German officials said he also hopes to persuade neighbouring Arab states to take a more active role in diplomatic efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The visit is Steinmeier's 14th since taking office in 2005. He is scheduled to meet Tuesday with President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and in Lebanon with prime minister-designate Saad Hariri, son of former premier Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a bomb blast in 2005.

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