Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda (West Bank): Palestinian-Israeli summit today to save peace talks – Palestinian and Israeli officials said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will hold talks Thursday in Jerusalem to save the peace talks that have been stalled over the Jewish settlement dispute. Abbas received a telephone call from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the negotiations, during which Abbas called for freezing Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.
Al-Rayah (Qatar): Mubarak delivered Syrian message to Israel and Olmert waits for Assad signal – Israeli defense officials said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak delivered a message to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak from Syrian President Bashar Assad during their meeting in Sharm El Sheikh Wednesday. They said that Olmert told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation, which will also visit Damascus, that he is waiting for a Syrian response on Israel's readiness to resume negotiations.
As-Safir (Lebanon): Larijani melts the ice of relations with Egypt – A family visit by Iran's national security adviser Ali Larijani to Cairo has turned into a political mission as he met with top Egyptian officials to discuss crises in the region and improving bilateral relations. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was ready to re-open the Iranian embassy in Cairo as soon as possible and that he will dispatch a new ambassador "on the first available plane" if Egypt is ready to restore full diplomatic ties, severed in 1979.
Al-Ahram (Egypt): Ibrahimi: America destroyed Iraq and handed it to Iran – Former special U.N. envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Ibrahimi launched an attack on U.S. policy in Iraq, saying the United States did not take a single proper decision since its invasion in March 2003. He said the United States handed Iraq over to Iran after destroying it, adding that saving the country can only happen through the cooperation of Arab and neighboring countries, but that these countries refuse to cooperate because America wants them to help it implement its "rotten policy."
Al-Baath (Syria): Iran rejects Talabani's remarks on Algiers accord – Iranian officials rejected remarks by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani revoking the 1975 Algiers Accord, which demarcated the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq. They said the accord is internationally legal and binding and canceling it would have negative consequences on the international community.