Netanyahu says to visit Egypt on peace mission

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he would visit Egypt on January 6 in an effort to revitalise stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

"On Thursday I shall go to Egypt," he told senior members of his Likud party in remarks broadcast on Israeli public radio. "We have a single aim, to strengthen security and to move toward achieving peace."

Netanyahu did not elaborate, but Israeli media have reported that he is to meet President Hosni Mubarak at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Mubarak has publicly blamed Israel for the collapse of peace talks, and has urged the international community, especially the United States, to move the process forward.