Netanyahu announces Egypt trip

JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he would leave for Egypt Sunday to meet with President Hosni Mubarak on the stalled Mideast peace process.

Netanyahu, speaking at the start of the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, said he's hopeful progress can be made in resolving the seemingly intractable conflict, CNN reported.

"There is still work to do," the Israeli leader said. "We have made progress on certain items. There are also certain items on which we have yet to make progress. I hope that we will succeed in reducing the gaps. Maybe we will bridge them, so that we can move the process forward."

An unnamed senior Israeli official told CNN the two leaders are also expected to discuss weapons smuggling into Gaza from Egypt.

The Israeli leader's trip is part of a new effort by U.S. President Barack Obama to restart the Mideast peace process, an unnamed Netanyahu aide told The Jerusalem Post. The goal, he said, is to have the outlines of a new initiative ready in the coming weeks -- perhaps as early as this week's start of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York.