Moussa refutes claims by the Israeli Prime Minister
Egypt, Politics, 9/11/2000

Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has refuted statements given by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Jerusalem asserting that they are bare of truth. This came in Moussa's reaction to what Barak had said that Christ did not see a mosque or church when he passed by Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem contains at the present time the Holy Mosque and the Church only," Moussa said following a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Salvador.

He said the peace process should be based on international legitimacy and the United Nations resolutions, Moussa termed statements by the Israeli Prime Minister as an attempt to convince the public opinion of baseless matters.

The Foreign Minister said Jesus Christ did not find mosque when he passed by Jerusalem as simply because Islam's emergence breakforth later to that time.

He said there were no churches also because Jesus Christ was still preaching Christianity. He termed Barak's statements during a press conference held in New York on Thursday as mere lip service in the air that did not serve the peace process.

On recent developments of the peacemaking, Moussa said that meetings held in New York in this respect did not achieve much progress but he added that parties concerned would wish to reach a settlement as soon as possible.

Moussa stressed the importance of finding proposals which Palestinian President Yasser Arafat could accept regarding the issues of Jerusalem and land.

Talks should be based on international legitimacy and UN resolutions, he said, noting that the peacemaking was witnessing ups and downs and at times excesses and acceptable ideas.

Moussa said US President Bill Clinton is determined to pursue his sponsorship of the peace process in the Middle East.

Moussa expressed satisfaction with the result of meetings of the Millennium Summit, terming them as very constructive. "There was genuine determination to listen to various viewpoints to build future plans," he said.

Moussa noted that it was necessary for industrialized countries to receive a message stressing the importance of respecting sovereignty of developing countries. Interference in domestic affairs of these countries should be allowed only under specific conditions. It was also important to bring to the notice of advanced countries that the new drive to formulate a world order should be done through collective action.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak, Ben-Issa underline support for Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem   (9/7/2000)
  Jerusalem is a sensitive, complicated, serious issue   (9/7/2000)
  Egypt makes no pressure on the Palestinians   (9/7/2000)

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