Egypt welcomes efforts to support Egyptian-Jordanian
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 5/30/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said Wednesday that Egypt welcomes any efforts to boost the Egyptian-Jordanian inititive that is based on the same philosophy of Mitchell's report.

In statements to reporters at the Foreign Ministry, Maher stressed a new wide-scale world support for the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative. Based on balanced grounds the initiative calls for implementing the interim stage requirements, and discarding Israeli aggressive policies untill violence in the area has come to an end as a preparatory step towards for resuming the final-status negotiations.

He pointed out that focus is laid at present on efforts by the American peace envoy William Burns who met with both the Palestinian and Israeli sides and is due in Cairo Thursday to brief Egyptian officials on the outcome of his tour of the region and the Palestinian-Israeli-American security meeting.

"Burns' visit to Cairo comes in completion of these consultations", he said, dismissing any contradictions between the Egyptian-Jordanian overture and the Mitchell report.

Maher denounced the Israeli rejection to go in line with the positive drive supporting the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the Mitchel report.

He underlined that Israel has failed to abort the overture and to empty the report from its contents.

He said that violence is represented in the Israeli practices of blockades and daily aggressions against the unarmed Israeli people.

He described Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's unilateral ceasefire declaration as illusive .

He added that consultations among the Arab group in New York are continui on the drive to be taken as regards calling again for international protection to the Palestinan people.

"The idea of providing the Palestinians with protection is important and necessary," he noted.

He said that the Egyptian drive and President Hosni Mubarak's communications and contacts with U.S. President George Bush in addition to the verbal message conveyed to the American adminsitration by U.S. ambassador in Cairo Daniel Kurtzer were behind the recent American drive.

Maher stressed anew that Egypt is against the Israeli settlement policy for being a violation of international legitimacy and the international law.

He called for concentrating on stopping settlement activities and violence in order to reach confidence-building stage.

On the Iraqi issue and reports on imposing smart sactions on Baghdad, he said that any sanctions that lead to more suffering for the Iraqi people are stupid.

He added that punishing the Iraqi people is inadmissible.

As regards possibilities of improving the Iranian-Egyptian relations, Maher said that relations with Iran require firm and clear-cut stances.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian contacts at Security Council to reach Israeli acceptance of Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, Mitchell report   (5/29/2001)
  Baz denies possible war eruption in ME   (5/29/2001)
  Egyptian-US moves to halt the Israeli aggression   (5/29/2001)

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