Maher: Violence between Palestinians and Israelis result of conflict
Egypt-Palestine, Politics, 7/20/2002

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said that acts of violence in due the Palestinian territories and Israel were not a cause for the ongoing conflict between the two sides but rather a result of the conflict.

He said that Egypt's stance on the issue was represented in peace the importance of working at the political, security economic and humanitarian levels, in addition to efforts aimed at reforming the Palestinian Authority.

He told a press conference on Thursday, in the presence of Arab and American journalists, that despite difference in Arab viewpoints among the parties concerned on reaching a solution to the Middle East problem, there were efforts aiming at achieving peace and getting out of the crisis.

"The Israeli re-occupation of the West Bank towns, destruction of Palestinian houses, arrest of thousands of Palestinians and seizure of big amounts of ammunition did not prevent attacks in Israel," added Maher.

Violence leads to more violence, said Maher, adding that the best way to solve the crisis was the atmosphere of hope.

On the Egyptian role in reforming the Palestinian Authority, Maher said that Egypt was ready to contribute to all fields including rehabilitating the Palestinian security apparatus and training security elements.

But the Egyptian Foreign Minister said that it was impossible to train Palestinian elements under the Israeli occupation of Palestinian towns in the West Bank, stressing the importance of the Israeli withdrawal.

Maher said that Israel must with draw from the Palestinian territories and give guarantee on respecting the Egyptian, American and Palestinian efforts in the fields of security reform and on the political track.

He said that Yasser Arafat was the sole leader of the Palestinian people who had the moral and practical authority to sign agreements with the Israeli side.

On the Egyptian stance toward a military strike on Iraq, Maher said that Cairo was opposed to any military strike against Baghdad, adding that there was a unanimous stance among all the Arab states on rejecting military strike against Iraq.

He expressed hope for reaching a peaceful solution between Iraq on the one hand and the United Nations and the United States on the other to avoid the use of force.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian intelligence chief to arrive in the Palestinian territories   (7/18/2002)
  Mubarak meets Saeb Ereka on Palestinian situation   (7/16/2002)
  Egypt's intelligence chief holds talks with Peres, Arafat on tensions   (7/8/2002)

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