Egypt's president and Israel's foreign minister: meeting in Cairo

Israelis and Egyptians Strive to Keep Peace Process Alive

The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, has warned Israel about the dangers of weakening the authority of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Mr Mubarak was speaking after he met the Israeli foreign minister, David Levy, in Cairo to salvage the Middle East peace process.

It's been in crisis since last week's bombing of a Jerusalem market which was followed by tough Israeli security measures.

Mr Mubarak said that undermining Mr Arafat's position was very, very dangerous to the peace process. He called on the Israelis to lift their economic blockade of Palestinian areas.

Middle Eastern leaders are criss-crossing the region searching for a way out of the acute crisis caused by the bombing.

As well as Egypt, Jordan, the UK, the European Union and the United States are all now involved in the search to find a way out of the crisis caused by last week's market bombing in Jerusalem.

Jordan says failure of the talks would be a catastrophe for the whole region. The Palestinian authorities are calling on the United Nations Security Council to protest against Israel's restrictions on the West Bank and Gaza.

The Palestinian authorities say the closure imposed by Israel is now causing serious problems for anyone needing medical treatment as well as severely disrupting the economy.

Israel's Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet King Hussein of Jordan. Jordan's leader has too already had discussions with Yasser Arafat.

As diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis continue, the group believed to be behind the Jerusalem attack, Hamas, has threatened to carry out more attacks. It says its demands for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners have not been met.