Mubarak discusses with Solana, Burns Middle East peace
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 6/1/2002

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Thursday said that President Hosni Mubarak separate talks on the Middle East peace process with Javier Solana, the EU official in charge of foreign policy and security, and William Burns, the US Assistant State Secretary were useful.

"Solana, briefed the President on the debaters inside the EU on the Middle East situation and the channels to be used by Europe in contribution to pushing forward peace efforts in the area," said Maher.

In press statements after the meetings, Maher said that Burns also presented President Mubarak with the US ideas that would be discussed at the coming visit by President Mubarak to Washington.

Maher underlined the necessity of supporting the Palestinian economy, after the Israeli aggression had devastated the major part of the Palestinian infrastructure.

The Israeli side is required to honour its commitments, halt its aggressions on the Palestinian people and stop its policy of storming Palestinian lands whenever it likes.

Maher further added that all current contacts Egypt was making aimed at paving the way for a successful meeting between President Mubarak and US President George Bush.

Answering a question on the proposal presented by Solana on holding an international peace conference and the Egyptian stance on this score, Maher said the idea still holds but not officially.

Nothing specific has been announced about the proposed peace conference, said Maher. He said that to hold such a conference it would be a must to set a clear objective, make good preparations and adopt specific terms of reference.

Maher also added that it was natural that all parties concerned should draw a lesson from past experiences and set a timetable for specific measures.

Maher asserted the exigency of pooling international peace efforts together to force Israel to join the current peace efforts.

Answering another question on the spy satellite which was launched by Israel, Maher said that if the aim was to prove Israel's power, the problem would not be settled by force.

Regarding a US plan to start fresh peace talks, Maher noted that talks could not be held without the known terms of references. He further explained that talks could not start from scratch.

Previous Stories:
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  Egypt believes in joint international action to fight terrorism   (5/25/2002)

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