British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, is to press ahead with a trip to the Middle East event though Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, has pulled out of talks due to ill-health.
The Foreign Secretary is due to meet his Israeli counterpart Mr Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as planned.
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Mr Ariel Sharon
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He is then visiting Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat, who is under house arrest in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Israeli and British diplomats are disappointed that 76-year-old Mr Sharon is unable to meet Mr Straw.
The Foreign Secretary is in the region on a "listening brief" on what steps are being taken in the Middle East peace process.
Mr Sharon cancelled all engagements yesterday and today, including a meeting of his coalition Cabinet, after coming down with what was believed to be a bout of flu since visiting America last week.
Mr Straw is travelling to Israel from Istanbul, where he attended a joint bridge-building summit of European Union and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) ministers and held talks with the Turkish prime minister and foreign minister.
During a peace-building mission to the Middle East in the wake of September 11th, a meeting between Mr Straw and Mr Sharon nearly fell through after the Israeli leader was furious about comments made by the Foreign Secretary in the Iranian press about "Palestine".
PA