Peres meets with Mubarak in Cairo
Egypt-Israel, Politics, 2/27/2004

Leader of the opposition Israeli labor party Shimon Peres said after the talks he had held in Cairo yesterday with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the plan of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to dismantle the settlements in Gaza should be also applicable on the West Bank where more and more settlers are living.

By the beginning of February, Sharon announced plans for large unilateral withdrawal from Gaza where some 7500 settlers occupy 21% of the lands amid some one million Palestinians. Peres said "we hail the idea of withdrawal from Gaza and support the idea of dismantling the settlements..we do think that this should be made within the Roadmap plan and that coordination should be made with the Palestinians." Peres told journalists "we do not talk about Gaza first and last. we talk about Gaza first and then to continue the operations in the West Bank."

Mubarak's advisor for political affairs Osama al-Baz said that "Peres proposed to President Mubarak certain visions which most of which proceed towards the desire to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle east." Al-Baz added that " the talks centered on means of strengthening the march of peace between Israel and the Arab sides and having a look on the future of the Middle East in case peace is reached."

Peres commended Egypt's "constructive and positive role in the efforts it makes to reach a settlement for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict." Replying to a question on the wall of separation built by Israel in the West Bank and its impact on a solution in the Middle East, Peres said " no body opposes the defensive wall, the problem lies in its demarcation.." He indicated that the former Israeli defense minister Benjamin Binaleazer proposed another demarcation for the wall parallels to the green line that "separates Israel from the West Bank." He called on the current government to " correct the demarcation" expressing the hope to correct this demarcation and to use the wall only as "a security instrument rather as political ambitions."

As for his position regarding the American initiative to impose democracy in the Middle East, he said he prefers to use "modernization" instead of " deciding democracy." He added that Democracy comes with "a modern economy and modern industry in the Middle East," noting that the region is in need to an "economic" rather than rhetoric "initiative."

Previous Stories:
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