Peace Process, blocked on all tracks
Egypt-Syria, Politics, 2/8/2000

Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad yesterday received a message from President Mubarak dealing with bilateral cooperation and ME peace developments at all tracks in the light of the faltering of negotiations.

The message was conveyed by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa who paid a flight visit to Damascus during where he discussed with his Syrian counterpart Farouq Al-Sharaa the developments of negotiations on the various tracks.

In statements to reporters, Moussa said his talks with Sharaa were positive and important.

They examined the situation in the Arab world, the Middle East Peace Process, the importance of overcoming the present obstacles.

"These obstacles are present on the Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian tracks," he said. His talks with Sharaa addressed Israel's positions towards the three tracks, the freeze on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks and the uncertainty on the Palestinian track, he added.

Moussa said it is only natural to work on the activation of the Syrian peace track and expressed hope for positive action towards this end.

But he added that the matter required many changes within the Israeli policy towards peace talks.

He said he carried a message from President Hosni Mubarak to President Hafez Al-Assad on developments on the peace track.

Moussa reiterated the importance of convening an Arab Summit, saying it was necessary to meet the aspirations of Arab states, Arab public opinion and interests.

He voiced hope the summit would be held to realize these goals.

"We are talking of Arab consultations and coordination as much as we are talking of an Arab summit," he added.

"Until the summit is held, there must be a clear course of Arab coordination and understanding especially with many question marks raised over the true Israeli stance towards the various peace tracks," he said.

On whether he was optimistic towards the peace process as he remarked in Cairo Sunday, Moussa said that his optimism was still there.

"I have talked about it with Sharaa and with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday and there is a general feeling of this sort among all of us," he added.

Concerning the Syrian track, he said there was optimism but there were matters that caused a great deal of trouble.

Meantime, Mubarak received a written message from al-Assad answering Mubarak's message to al-Assad, conveyed by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa yesterday, concerning the current status of the peace process. Moussa said he presented a detailed report to President Mubarak concerning the results of his quick visit to Damascus and his discussion with President al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa which focused on the peace process development on the different tracks.

Previous Stories:
  Amr Moussa in Damascus today   (2/7/2000)
  Egypt welcomes Bashar's visit   (1/25/2000)
  Syrian- Egyptian summit in Damascus   (1/24/2000)

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