U.S. In Talks With Egypt To Keep Israel Pact

The United States is engaged in secret talks with Egypt’s ruling military council geared at ensuring that the country’s democratically elected regime will maintain its peace treaty with Israel, top Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said on Tuesday.

Results from Egypt’s recent parliamentary vote, which saw considerable gains for Islamist factions such as the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party and the radical Salafi movement’s Al-Nour Party, have caused some to question the future of Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with its neighbor to the north.

In an apparent attempt to assuage some of these concerns, Al-Nour officials indicated last week that the Salafi movement intended to respect all treaties that Egypt has signed, including the peace deal with Israel.

Al-Nour, which won 25-30 percent of the votes in the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections, also said that they are in favor of negotiating with Israel.

Meanwhile, a senior diplomatic official in Jerusalem said Sunday that Israel’s new ambassador in Cairo, Yaakov Amitai, will attempt to open communication channels with Islamic officials in Egypt, including representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood and the radical Salafi movement’s Al-Nour Party.

For more, go to Haaretz.com