Peace cannot be turned into a trade deal
Egypt-France, Politics, 1/19/2000

President Hosni Mubarak yesterday received a verbal message from French President Jacques Chirac. The message which was conveyed by French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine dealt with the developments of the peace process and the current circumstances of the peace process on the various tracks.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, the French Ambassador in Cairo, the Assistant Foreign Minister and the Director of the Department of North Africa and Middle East Affairs at the French foreign ministry.

Emerging from the meeting, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said the meeting tackled the peace process on various tracks, the situation in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean region as well as bilateral relations.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine termed as "indeed cordial" his meeting earlier with President Mubarak.

The French side through this meeting came to appreciate anew President Mubarak in the field of French-Egyptian ties, which provides an element of stability in the Middle East.

Replying to a question on the French role in the Middle East in general and on France's evaluation of the Syrian-Israeli negotiations, Vedrine said his country has been trying through its contacts and over a long time to bring about, as quickly as possible, peace in the area.

This is a main element of France's foreign policy, he said. He expressed moderate and reasonable optimism over the observation that Palestinian-Israel agreements are being implemented despite the difficulties.

France is also following up resumption of talks between the Syrians and Israelis, he said, adding that "we encouraged both parties to resume the negotiations".

We are now encouraging the Palestinians and Israelis to tackle the core problems which surface between the two sides, he said.

Vedrine stressed that France has a role, whether through attending, following up or contributing ideas and proposals, while it is also ready to offer guarantees to some parties if they wish while getting closer to clinching an agreement.

France does not negotiate on behalf of any party although it is close to it share cordial feelings of friendship with its countries, the French official said.

Vedrine further expressed commitment to reconstruct the region in cooperation with the European Union. In this spirit we work with Egypt, and through our bilateral relations we aim at reaching a just peace, he added.

Egyptian and French sides held an expanded session of talks under Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and his French counterpart Hubert Vedrine. Following the session, the two foreign ministers held a press conference.

Minister Moussa said Egypt and France have agreed on the importance of making a headway in the peace process adding if the situation remained as it is, this for would be an unhealthy situation.

Answering a question on Israel's request $78 billion as a price for peace with Syria, Vedrine said he does not know whether peace has a material price or not, adding if peace is based on sound grounds it would be beneficial to all.

However, he said France is prepared to give guarantees for any agreement to be reached on both Lebanese and Syrian tracks.

On his part, Minister Moussa said peace could not have a financial or material price otherwise it would turn into a trade and deal which unacceptable.

Moussa described his talks with his French counterpart as "important, positive and comprehensive".

Moussa said the talks dealt with the developments of the Middle East peace process, Barcelona process, the situation in the region, international developments as well as bilateral relations.

He also referred to President Mubarak's meeting and talks with Vedrine who conveyed messages from President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Vedrine in turn expressed pleasure to visit Egypt and have talks with Egyptian officials noting that consultations are constant between the two countries.

In answer to a question on the role of Europe in general and France in particular regarding reaching a settlement in the Middle East region, Vedrine said the role of each party should be considered he believed that the role of Egypt in this respect as well as that of Europe particularly on the economic level.

All the Middle East states should deal with the regional security issue after concluding the relevant agreements, he said.

Asked on his perception of peace in the Middle East in the light of Israel's possession of nuclear weapons, Vedrine said there are a lot of problems which should be solved. Problems should be solved one by one so as to reach fair and stable peace without putting any preconditions.

On his country's vision of the violation of human rights in Chechnya, Vedrine said France's view towards this issue was clear-cut noting that his country as the rest of the world community admitted that this region lies with in the sovereignty of Russia. "Each country has the right to fight terrorism on its lane" which he believed "was quite evident in Chechnya Vedrine added

However, Vedrine recalled that the Russians are mistaken if they believe that they could solve this conflict by purely military means asserting that France denounced the intensive military actions against civilians exposed.

Vedrine stressed the need to seek a suitable formula for a settlement.

Moussa declined to answer a question whether Egypt will sell natural gas to Israel and only said "these are long and commercial issues which have not so far culminated".

On Israel's failure to honor agreements with the Palestinians and shelling of southern Lebanon at a time multilateral meetings will be held in Moscow, Vedrine said what matters is to proceed towards achieving peace and countering obstacles.

Vedrine also expressed hope that all peace agreements be signed and that final status negotiations proceed and tackle substantial issues or else negotiations on this track be frozen in face of progress on the Syrian track.

Previous Stories:
  Vedrine leaves Cairo   (1/18/2000)
  Mubarak meets with French Foreign Minister   (1/17/2000)
  Hubert Vedrine: Egypt plays a leading role in the region   (1/17/2000)

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