Moussa meets Annan
Regional, Politics, 6/13/2001

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa held late Tuesday a round of talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who arrived in Cairo last night.

Talks dwelt on the situation in the Middle East and the UN role at the current stage.

Annan is scheduled to meet with President Hosni Mubarak early Wednesday.

In statements following the meeting, Moussa said Annan's tour of the region comes at a critical stage.

Annan refused to answer a question on the possibility of providing an international protection in the region. He said this matter was not accepted by the UN Security Council. The Council has neither recalled the issue for further discussion, he remarked.

In reply to a query on the future of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, Annan said both sides are currently holding talks.

CIA Chief George Tenet is taking part in the talks and we hope progress would be achieved, Annan said.

Asked about the double-standard policies adopted by international diplomacy which raised the devils about the death of 20 Israelis after turning deaf ears to the killing of hundreds of Palestinians, arresting and torturing dozens of them, Annan said he has repeatedly voiced deep concern about the sufferings of the Palestinian as well as the Israeli peoples.

We should now focus on terminating violence and helping the conflicting parties return to the table of negotiations, Annan added.

Asked about the reason behind his tour at the current stage, Annan said, the situation is now better than it was two weeks ago.

Both sides accept the Mitchell Commission's recommendations and work with Tenet on fostering the ceasefire, Annan said.

The US Russia, the European Union and a number of Arab Leaders are also taking political and diplomatic moves, he added.

Annan also affirmed his organisation's interest in Lebanese and Syrian issues.

The UN Chief abstained from commenting on the possibility of lifting the Iraqi sanctions. He said the decision is at the court of the UN Security Council.

Annan met late Tuesday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah El-Khatib at Cairo International Airport.

The meeting took up the situation in the Middle East.

Khatib arrived in Cairo, coming from Libya, accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

They attended the meeting of the Arab Ministerial Committee in charge of studying the ideas championed by leader of the Libyan Revolution Col. Muammar Gaddafi during Amman's recent Arab Summit.

Previous Stories:
  UN Secretary, to discuss in Cairo efforts for containing the situation   (6/12/2001)
  No conflict between Egyptian-Jordanian Initiative and Mitchell report   (6/12/2001)
  Cairo's Arab economic summit postponed until December   (6/12/2001)

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