JERUSALEM, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert left Thursday afternoon for Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Israeli Government Press Office said in a statement.

    Olmert was expected to discuss with Mubarak Egypt's prospective proposal to arrange a regional summit which gathers Olmert, Mubarak, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II, according to the statement.

    Meanwhile, the Ha'aretz daily quoted a source in the Prime Minister's Office as saying, "We have no fundamental problem with a summit, and if they raise the idea during the Olmert-Mubarak meeting, we will discuss it and consider it,"

    A prisoner exchange deal which involves captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails is expected to be high on the agenda of the talks.

    However, Israel did not expect any dramatic progress during Thursday's meeting to secure the release of the captured soldier, the paper said.

    Other issues to be discussed include weapon smuggling through the Philadelphi route into the Palestinian territory, funds entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and international actions to strengthen moderate Arab states in the Middle East, according to the press office.

    The meeting between Olmert and Mubarak comes ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region on Jan. 13-14.