The chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, Mustafa al-Fekki, and former ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Bassiouni, will travel to Jerusalem on March 23 to mark the signing of the accord on that day in 1979.

Last week, Egyptian parliamentary Speaker Ahmed Fathi Srour said he declined an invitation to address the Israeli Knesset, saying he could not do so "while Israel occupies an Arab country and an independent Palestinian state is not established."

Egypt was the first of only two Arab countries to sign a peace deal with Israel, followed by Jordan in 1994.

Cairo's relations with the Jewish state soured following the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, with Egypt considering the Jewish state's response to be heavy handed.

Ties have warmed recently, and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom arrived in Cairo Thursday on the first such visit in two years.

WAR.WIRE