Ireland's new foreign minister to visit Egypt, Israel, West Bank this week

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin will visit Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this week, to support the Gaza Strip cease-fire and wider Middle East peacemaking work. Martin's office on Tuesday announced details of his three-day trip - his first to the Middle East since he became foreign minister in a Cabinet shakeup last month. He is scheduled to meet Egyptian leaders and the secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, on Wednesday in Cairo. On Thursday, he is set to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayad in the West Bank and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem. On Friday, he will visit Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Martin said he hopes to "discuss openly the prospects for peace at a difficult time, building on the cease-fire in Gaza."