Mubarak, al-Assad meeting in Sharm esh Sheikh
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak held a bilateral meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday attended by high level officials on both sides.
Egyptian-Syrian relations drew special priority as cooperation and consultations between the two states constitute a main pillar of Arab common work at this critical stage under which the Arab nation faces increasing difficulties. The two Presidents, subsequently, decided the convening of a higher committee between the two states co-chaired by both of them, regarding the major strategic issues. The committee would continue meetings on regular basis between both countries at the level of prime ministers.
The two presidents expressed content over the positive outcomes of the concluded Syrian-Egyptian Higher Committee meeting in Damascus, and voiced the hope in continuing and deepening the cooperation and exchanges in all fields.
The two leaders stressed commitment to work for the establishment of peace, as part of the Arab peace initiative adopted by the Beirut Summit, as an Arab strategic tendency towards achieving just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and the restoration of the Arab rights, including the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the Israeli total withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan, and the rest of the Arab occupied Arab lands to June 4th 1967 line.
Presidents al-Assad and Mubarak stressed that current developments in the region prove the need to turn the Middle East into a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction, in a way that includes all the countries, including Israel.
The two presidents, consequently, stressed their call to free the Middle East region from weapons of mass destruction, and joint work between the two states to achieve this goal in the framework of the UN and other relevant international institutions.
The two presidents reviewed the situation in Iraq, and pointed out to the importance of preserving the independence of Iraq, as well as its stability, unity, and the restoration of full sovereignty of the Iraqi people, and enabling them govern themselves according to a specific timetable.