Omar Suleiman to visit Israel

Egyptian intelligence chief to discuss prisoner and border issues; will meet Olmert, Livni, Barak.

suleiman 88 (photo credit: )
suleiman 88
(photo credit: )
Egypt's powerful intelligence chief will visit Israel next week for talks on border issues and on captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, defense officials said Wednesday. Omar Suleiman, who often serves as an envoy for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, will meet with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the officials said. The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had yet to be officially announced. No official confirmation was immediately available from Egyptian authorities. Talks will center on the borders between Egypt, Israel and Gaza, the officials said, a pressing concern since Hamas blew up the border wall between Gaza and Egypt last month, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flood into Egypt. Another topic of discussion will be Gilad Schalit, who has been held by Hamas since he was captured in a cross-border raid in June, 2006. Talks on a prisoner swap, mediated by Egypt, have yielded no results so far because of disagreements over which Palestinian prisoners would be released by Israel.