Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday morning left for Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak towards advancing efforts to bring Gilad Shalit home as the nation prepares to mark his third anniversary in Hamas captivity.
The two officials discussed a number of current event issues, the elections in Iran and Lebanon, advancing regional peace efforts, US President Barak Obama�s address, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu�s Bar Ilan address, and of course, stalled efforts towards the release of Shalit. They also discussed the situation throughout Yehuda and Shomron.
While the Prime Minister�s Office and Defense Ministry are remaining silent as to Shalit�s plight and Egypt�s role as handling the mediated talks between Israel and Hamas. The London-based Arabic al-Shark al-Awsat reports �there are optimistic signs� regarding progress between Israel and Hamas.
(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)
