Russia aims to host Middle East peace parley by end of 2009

            Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in Cairo on Tuesday that Moscow aimed to hold a Middle East peace conference before the end of 2009, a move backed by Egypt. "We paid special attention to Middle East issues. We highly appreciate efforts by the Egyptian president to create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation in the region," Medvedev said after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "(The) Moscow Middle East conference, which we plan to hold before the end of the year, will also contribute to achieving this goal," he said at a joint news conference. Russia, which has mooted holding such a Middle East conference in the past, is a member of the Quartet of Middle East negotiators, along with the European Union, the United States and the United Nations. Moscow is the only Quartet member talking to Hamas, the group that controls Gaza but is snubbed by Israel and the West. Russia also has good contacts with Israel. "I affirmed Egypt's support for holding the proposed international conference in Moscow to push peace efforts, and our support for everything that contributes towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region," Mubarak said. Egypt, like other Arab states, has called for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on two states and has dismissed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conditional proposal for a demilitarized Palestinian state. "What is the basis for a solution to this problem? Those are international legal norms and certain principles including the principle of two states, discussions on (Israeli) settlements and the future capital," Medvedev said. "These are difficult questions but Russia is ready to help solve them," the Russian president added. (22,37)