Intense diplomatic ballet in Geneva
Geneva was the scene of intense diplomatic activity on Friday and Saturday, with heads of state flying in and out of the Swiss city.
The Middle East crisis seems to be the focus of talks underway in the Geneva area. The Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak made a 24-hour visit, meeting two Gulf heads of state holidaying in the region on Friday.
Mubarak spoke first with the Emirati president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan near Annemasse, just over the French border, before heading back to Switzerland to talk with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia at his Swiss holiday residence at Collonge-Bellerive in canton Vaud.
Talks focused on the violence in the Occupied Territories, and the current situation of the Palestinians, according to diplomatic sources. Possible means of reaching peace in the Middle East were also discussed.
The French president, Jacques Chirac, succeeded Mubarak on Saturday. Chirac, on the way home from a summit with the Russian head of state, Vladimir Putin, stopped off in Geneva for two hours to meet with Cheikh Zayed.
During their meeting at a Black Sea resort, Putin and Chirac had reaffirmed the need for an international conference to bring about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Mubarak and Chirac did not discuss the situation in Geneva despite crossing paths. Both men are scheduled to hold talks in Paris next week.
No representatives of the Swiss government met with the visiting French and Egyptian heads of state, but the head of the Swiss mission at the United Nations in Geneva, François Nordmann, was there to greet them as called for by protocol.
swissinfo with agencies
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