Egypt's chief of intelligence is to meet Israeli officials in what will be the first high-level talks between an Egyptian official and members of the Israeli government.

Omar Suleiman will meet Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, on Wednesday in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Suleiman's meeting with Barak will address Egyptian-Israeli policy on the two countries' border with Gaza, as well as Cairo's recent arrests of men alleged to have acted as agents for Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia group.

The Egyptian security chief is also expected to hold talks with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president.

Israeli officials have not given any firm indication that Suleiman will meet Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister.

Two-state controversy

Lieberman has repeatedly dismissed efforts towards a resumption in stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The new foreign minister told the Russian newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets, in comments published on April 8, that a "two states for two people" policy was "a pretty formulation devoid of concrete, real contents".

The two-state solution is the basis preferred by the US for a lasting settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

But Lieberman told Moskovskiy Komsomolets that should a Palestinian state be created, Israel will still be threatened by an Arab minority within its own borders.

'Dead end'

"Until this issue is solved, there is no point in talking about two states for two nations," he said.

"All peaceful negotiations with the Palestinians have sooner or later hit a dead end despite numerous Israeli concessions," he said.

Stewart Tuttle, a spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv, said that Washington is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

"The president [Barack Obama] is strongly committed to a comprehensive peace and a two-state solution, and that's what we're going to be looking forward to," Tuttle said.