CAIRO - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned Israel on Monday that its decision to extend Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem could "kill the peace process".
"One cannot talk of negotiations, solutions or the end of this conflict while Israel continues with the settlements," Abul Gheit told reporters in Cairo.
The expansion is "in breach of the roadmap (peace plan) and its requirements, and it's as if the aim is to kill the peace process," he said.
On Tuesday, Israel said it had invited bids to build more than 300 new housing units at Har Homa in annexed east Jerusalem, the first settlement expansion since the revival of peace talks with the Palestinians.
At the US-backed Middle East conference in Annapolis both sides pledged to implement the 2003 roadmap plan, the first phase of which calls on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and for Palestinians to improve security.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa has slammed the expansion plans, saying it destroyed the trust needed to achieve peace.
"These measures destroy the climate of trust needed for the establishment of two states," said Moussa, describing the decision as a "flagrant breach of the Annapolis conference" agreements.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told public television on Friday that the Har Homa settlement did not come under the agreement struck last month in the United States.
"It is clear to the whole world that Har Homa is an integral part of Israel and that Har Homa will remain an integral part of Jerusalem," the deputy premier said.
Jewish settlements are one of the core issues that will be addressed in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations due to begin on December 12.
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12/10/2007 17:35 GMT