BERLIN, Feb 3, SPA -- German Chancellor Angel Merkel departed Saturday for a four-day tour of the Middle East as part of stepped-up international efforts to revive the peace process. Merkel's trip comes one day after representatives of theUnited States, United Nations, European Union and Russia convened in Washington to discuss how to move peace talks in the region forward amid factional violence in the Palestinian territories. Merkel has made the revival of peace efforts in the Middle East a goal of Germany's turn at the six-month rotating European Union presidency and has been meeting with key international and regional players in recent weeks. Egypt is Merkel's first stop, where she is to meetPresident Hosni Mubarak, as well as the Egyptian primeminister. After Cairo, Merkel will continue to Saudi Arabia, theUnited Arab Emirates and Kuwait, the Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/422670