Peres: My talks with Mubarak don't impinge on Lieberman's authority

Prior to his meeting with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday, President Shimon Peres told reporters that his trip to Cairo is not meant to impinge on Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's position as foreign minister.

Peres said part of the president's job description was to represent the state abroad, and that his talks with Egyptian officials do not encroach on Liebermann's turf.

With Ehud Barak overseeing the Netanyahu government's contacts with U.S. officials over the disagreement on settlement construction, Lieberman is increasingly perceived in Israel as a marginal figure in shaping Jerusalem's foreign policy.

Prior to the meeting, Peres told Haaretz that among the issues to be discussed are the fate of captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, advancing the Arab peace initiative, and the Iranian nuclear program.

Peres said that he consulted with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to his departure for Egypt.

When asked if Netanyahu accepted the Arab peace initiative, Peres replied that the question needed to be asked of Netanyahu. He added that the issue was sure to be raised during his talks with Mubarak.

The president said that recent developments have created a convergence of interests in Israel-Egypt relations. Cairo and Jerusalem are seeing eye-to-eye on a number of security issues, including the need to stymie arms-smuggling from Sinai into the Gaza Strip, Peres said.

Mubarak said on Tuesday he believed Shalit was well and that he hoped the issue would not take a long time to resolve.

"I believe there were contacts (with Gilad Shalit), and that Shalit is fine, and I hope that in the upcoming period, maybe, not in the long term, the issue of soldier Shalit will end," Mubarak said in a joint news conference with Peres in Cairo.