Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Wednesday that Egypt knows that captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive.

Aboul Gheit said Egypt is working to win the release of Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid by Hamas-linked militants in Gaza last
June.

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"This is a very sensitive issue and we have to treat it with very serious
sensitivity," he said at a news conference in Jerusalem. "I hope and believe that he will be released ... but I emphasize that we are working hard for his release and we are sure that he is still alive."

Gheit met Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday in Jerusalem, and told him that Cairo was appreciative of Israel's policy of restraint, the Prime Minister's Office said.

The two met Wednesday morning as the Prime Minister's Office announced that Olmert will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheik on January 4.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, Olmert and Aboul Gheit discussed the continuing Palestinian violations of the Gaza cease-fire.

"The Egyptian foreign minister expressed Egypt's deep appreciation for the Israeli policy of restraint, and its contribution to the strengthening of moderate elements in the Palestinian Authority," said the statement.

"The prime minister explained the complexity of the situation given the continued firing of missiles against Israel during the cease-fire, and the Israeli need to protect the lives and security of the citizens of the State of Israel," the statement continued.

The two also discussed the upcoming Red Sea summit between Olmert and Mubarak, which will deal with the developments between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the wake of Saturday's meeting between Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting will also deal with continued arms smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip via the Philadelphi Route, as well as broader regional developments in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Abbas met with Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday, to brief the Egyptian president about his Saturday meeting with Olmert.

Egypt has played a major role in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians, and has been trying to negotiate the release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by militants linked to Hamas, the militant group that controls the Palestinian parliament and cabinet.

Aboul Gheit is expected to discuss with officials in Israel the mediation efforts his country has undertaken on the release Shalit, even though no noticeable progress is expected in the near future.

The foreign minister is also expected to meet with officials to lay the groundwork for the meeting between Olmert and Mubarak.

In talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni later Wednesday, she demanded that Egypt take custody of Sudanese refugees who have infiltrated Israel through SinaI. Egypt, however, will only discuss the fate of 88 Sudanese who received refugee status in Cairo.

Aboul Gheit said Olmert's visit to Egypt next week could improve the
atmosphere and jumpstart the peace process.

Aboul Gheit met Wednesday several other politicians including Defense
Minister Amir Peretz, Likud party chair Benjamin Netanyahu and MK Silvan
Shalom. He also met with Labor's Ami Ayalon, and asked if he planned to run for party leadership.

Aboul Gheit said he did not discuss relations with Syria, despite estimations by Israeli political sources that the calls of Syrian President Bashar Assad for renewed peace negotiations with Israel would also be discussed during the meetings.

However, the arrival of the Egyptian foreign minister has led some, including MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) to call on the government to declare him persona non grata and prevent Aboul Gheit's visit from taking place. Steinitz maintains that unless Aboul Gheit publicly declares that Egypt recognizes Israel's sovereignty over Eilat, he should not be allowed to visit Israel.

Several weeks ago, the Egyptian foreign minister claimed that Eilat is Palestinian territory.

"We must not accept this," Steinitz said. "Had the Egyptian foreign minister said that Gaza or Nablus belonged to the Palestinians, I could understand it, but 25 years after the signing of a peace agreement with Egypt, raising questions regarding Israel's sovereignty in Eilat is something that we must not allow to pass," the former head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee added.

Steinitz maintains that Aboul Gheit's statement was not a slip of the tongue but a sustained Egyptian effort to undermine Israel's sovereignty in the south. The Likud MK said President Mubarak ordered the creation of a panel of experts in 1995 to examine the legitimacy of Egyptian claims. The panel, Steinitz says, concluded that Egypt can claim the southern triangle of territory covered by Uvda, Yotvata and Eilat.

The Clinton administration pressured Egypt to shelve the panel's report, and Mubarak agreed to the request.