Mubarak calls for lifting blockade imposed on Palestinians
Egypt-Palestine, Politics, 6/9/2001

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that the People's Assembly and Shura Council's elections were held under the judicial supervision to guarantee fairness of the elections.

Asked if the Shura Council elections under the full judicial supervision had sidestepped some of the shortcomings that surfaced at the People's Assembly elections, the President said that such shortcomings existed in all parts of the world.

President Mubarak was speaking to the press after he and Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak on Thursday cast their vote at a polling station in the Heliopolis suburb.

President Hosni Mubarak voiced hope that the Palestinian-Israeli sides would reach security procedures to drop the siege, as the Palestinian people should not forever remain under siege.

On whether he thought that the Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire would hold, especially that the Israeli side did not adopt any positive measures to lift the siege on the Palestinians the President added that the cease-fire has started a very short while ago and he hopes that the two sides reach security measures that will be gradually and eventually followed by an end to the siege.

Asked if the security talks that started earlier in the day provided a step forward on the Palestinian-Israeli peace track or whether the road was still long, he said: "We do not want the road to be long at this time."

"No one knows what could happen under such conditions, and therefore "I hope the two sides reach an agreement and afterwards the siege is lifted and the negotiations are started," he added.

Meanwhile, President Mubarak in a message to US President George Bush stressed the importance of effective US role in protecting the accomplishments, which were realized in the peaceful process.

President Mubarak called for sparing no efforts to eliminate the obstacles hindering peace process.

Moreover, Egypt's Ambassador in Washington Nabil Fahmy said that the Current situation in the Middle East is too bad due to the obstacles hindering the peace process and the threats against the principles under which the peace process was hinged on.

Fahmy, during a dialogue at Washington-based Arab Dialogue, said Egypt faces Israel's attempts to collapse what was built on the Palestinian-Israeli track.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt backs Palestinians' quest for their rights   (6/6/2001)
  Mubarak urges Israel to ease tension, carry out Mitchell's recommendations   (6/2/2001)
  International community should intervene to halt Israel aggression on Palestinians   (5/26/2001)

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