NEWS

Papandreou postpones Mubarak talks

Prime Minister George Papandreou has cancelled his proposed trip to Cairo on Sunday to hold talks with embattled President Hosni Mubarak.

Papandreou said after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday that he had informed his EU colleagues that he would be flying to Egypt.

“I have decided to go to Cairo, probably on Sunday, to carry there the EU’s spirit and current debate as well as Greece’s thoughts,» Papandreou said

“I have informed my (EU) colleagues, they think this is a positive initiative,» he added. «I want to carry a message to President Mubarak and have talks with him.”

Papandreou said he spoke on the telephone on Friday with Mubarak and other leading Egyptian figures.

However, a statement from the prime minister’s office in Saturday said that Papandreou has postponed his planned visit because of developments in Egypt. No alternate date for the visit has been set.

Papandreou has consulted by phone on Saturday’s developments in Egypt with the prime ministers of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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