THE Egyptian capital saw a flurry of last minute diplomatic activity yesterday in advance of today's summit between President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, Siona Jenkins writes from Cairo.
The Syrian Prime Minister Mr Mahmoud Zohbi, discussed the peace process with the Egyptian President while the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, was to arrive for talks sometime late in the evening.
All hopes are pinned on the Sharm El Sheikh meeting the semi official Al Akhhar newspaper said yesterday, reflecting the view of many here that the summit, to be held in the Sinai resort town of Sharm ElSheikh, represents the last chance to break the impasse In the Middle East peace process.
But despite the meetings and lofty expectations, most observers are pessimistic that the summit will change Israel's position on the issue of settlement building, which is seen as the key to overcoming the deadlock.
President Mubarak, whose bid to break the two month stalemate in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians led to the summit, is cautious about predicting its outcome.
"I cannot guarantee our effort will succeed 100 per cent... the circumstances have got very tough," he said, after meeting King Hussein of Jordan last Saturday.
The Palestinians have said they will only resume talks if the Israelis halt work on the Har Homa settlement in Arab East Jerusalem, a position supported by the Egyptians.
The Palestinians see Har Homa as an attempt by Israel to preempt final status talks on the fate of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their future capital. Israel maintains that interim peace accords with the Palestinians do not prevent it from building in East Jerusalem.
As a compromise, Mr Mubarak proposed last week that Israel suspended settlement building for six months, a suggestion that Mr Netanyahu's government rejected.
"Perhaps Mr Mubarak has decided to go ahead with the meeting to show the world how the Israelis are the ones saying `No' to compromise," one Arab diplomat said.