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 CAIRO (AP) - A sharp deterioration in Egypt's relations with Israel is further complicating Washington's faltering efforts to move the Middle East peace process forward.
The U.S. has long relied on Egypt's key role as a mediator in the region, most crucially in trying to reconcile rival Palestinian factions. But those efforts are now stalled as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rushes to Cairo to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday — a clear sign of concern that Egyptian and Arab support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts may be waning.
Clinton, who extended her Mideast trip by a day to come to Cairo, arrives at one of the lowest ebbs in three decades of Egyptian-Israeli peace. Over the past month, Egypt has been scaling back its already limited contacts with Israel in an apparent protest over Israel's refusal to halt Jewish settlement in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
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