Lieberman brands peace initiative as 'dangerous'

Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has branded an Arab peace initiative as "dangerous" because it requires the Jewish state to allow Palestinian refugees to return to its borders, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"Lieberman considers the Arab peace initiative as dangerous and as a threat to Israel because it includes the clause on the Palestinian refugees," the official said.

"The foreign minister has nevertheless not rejected the initiative as a whole," he said.

Meanwhile, Egypt's powerful intelligence chief arrived in Israel yesterday for the first high-level meetings between an Egyptian official and Israel's new hardline government.

Omar Sulaiman will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres.

Israeli defence officials said his talks with Barak will focus on security cooperation along the Gaza border and on the recent arrest in Egypt of Hezbollah agents.

In the past, Sulaiman has mediated talks between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers on ceasefires and a prisoner swap. It was not clear if Sulaiman will meet with Lieberman, who has become the most visible and controversial figure in the new government.

Lieberman has rejected recent peace efforts as a waste of time and has in the past infuriated the Egyptian government by saying Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should "go to hell."