November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

CAIRO, Nov 17: Israel should respect any ceasefire agreed by the Palestinians rather than force its collapse, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Monday as his country pursued efforts to secure a truce.

“It is necessary for Israel to respect this (truce) when it happens, and that what happened last time does not repeat itself, when the ceasefire collapsed because of Israeli practices,” Maher charged.

The Egyptian minister was speaking after talks with Italy’s deputy foreign minister, Alfredo Mantica, about a possible revival of the peace process.

As current president of the European Union, “Italy has a great responsibility to work to stop the collapse of the situation,” Maher said.

Egypt on Monday sent its intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and prime minister Ahmed Qorei about efforts to obtain a ceasefire. He will talk later with Israeli leaders.

In June, Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced a three-month suspension of anti-Israeli attacks that was brokered by Egypt, but the Palestinian militant groups attached conditions and Israel said it placed no value on the ceasefire.

The unilateral ceasefire collapsed on August 22.

Mantica’s visit to Cairo comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was visiting Italy. The Italian envoy also met here on Monday with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa.—AFP