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Israeli President, Egyptian counterpart will meet Thursday at Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss bilateral, security issues.
JERUSALEM - Israeli President Shimon Peres will meet his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Egypt this week, Peres’s office said on Monday.

“Mr Peres and Mr Mubarak will meet on Thursday at Sharm el-Sheikh,” Peres spokeswoman Ayelet Frish said.

Israeli public radio said the two men would discuss bilateral and security issues as well as the regional impact of the global financial crisis.

They will also discuss efforts to obtain the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza militants in June 2006, public radio said.

Egypt has been mediating efforts to secure a deal under which the Islamist Hamas movement, which has ruled the Gaza strip since June 2007, would release Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians jailed in Israel.