The Israeli Defence Minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, has had talks in Cairo with President Mubarak about ways of reviving the deadlocked Middle East peace process.

Mr Mordechai told Israel radio afterwards that the discussions, which lasted about three hours, had been good.

He said he was optimistic that progress could be made.

The visit came as intense diplomatic efforts continued to convene an Arab summit to discuss the prolonged deadlock.

However, an Egyptian presidential adviser, Osama al-Baz, denied that the issue of a summit had been raised during the Cairo talks.

Meanwhile, a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Beirut is reported to have ended without announcing any agreement on calls for an Arab summit.