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(RTTNews) -  As part of her trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit Wednesday in Egypt, where the two discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and both the U.S.' and Egypt's stance on the issue.

"The United States sees Egypt as an essential partner, not only in the Middle East, but on global and regional issues, as well," Clinton said.

Clinton said that she had met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier in the day and had reiterated the Obama administration's goal of a two-state solution to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and bring peace to the region.

"We are working hard to help the parties come together in negotiations that can yield progress toward our shared objectives," Clinton said.

She added, "And we regard Egypt and other Arab neighbors as critical partners in helping to move this effort forward. I assured the president, the minister, and the general that the United States shares their deep concerns about the people of Gaza."
Clinton further stated that the U.S. remained steadfast in its position that Israel should halt all settlement activity in Palestinian regions.

This prompted Gheit to mention that, although Egypt is appreciative of the U.S.'s efforts to halt Israel's settlement activity and convince them to negotiate with the Palestinians, "Israel is hindering the process" by not agreeing to completely halt all settlement activity.

Clinton said the ultimate goal was to establish Palestine as "a real state with real sovereignty with the kind of borders that will enable the people of Palestine to make decisions about where they live and what they do on their own."

She also made reference to the speech President Barack Obama gave in Cairo earlier in the year, stating the administration was still committed to the goals of education, human development, economic partnership and the protection of human rights that Obama laid out during the speech.

The trip marks the second to the region for Clinton since Obama took office. Her last trip was back in March, when she promised that the U.S. would work towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians on "many fronts."

by RTT Staff Writer

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