Mubarak receives al-Shara; reform is internal matter
Egypt-Syria, Politics, 3/31/2004

Syria's Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara on Tuesday said that he conveyed a letter from President Bashar al-Assad to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak related to the necessity of the sincere and serious work to convene the Arab summit in a good atmosphere.

Following a meeting held in Sharm al-Sheikh with Mubarak, al-Shara described the talks as constructive and positive expressing his optimism over convening the summit.

Answering a question about what has been reported by some media about Arab differences in Tunisia's meetings, al-Shara denied these rumors adding that the Syrian stance is part of the collective Arab stance which calls for freeing the Middle East region from the biological, chemical and nuclear mass destruction weapons including Israel's. He stressed that the Arab peace initiative approved in Beirut summit is the basis of any move in the forthcoming Arab summit in order to push the peace process forward.

He pointed out that the Syrian stance is based on the accordance between the aspirations of the Arab world and the real capabilities of the Arab states.

" Arab public opinion should know there were not any differences among Arab brothers in Tunis, and what has been done was another matter and out of the meetings' framework," al-Shara added.

About reforms in the Arab states, al-Shara said that Syria backs reforms in the Arab world, and each state realizes what is required for reforms adding there is no need to an Arab meeting to say what we should reform inside our countries and it is our responsibility.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, for his part, stressed the continuity of coordination and consultation between the two states with Saudi Arabia in order to push the joint Arab action forward and convene the summit.

He described the talks between al-Shara and Mubarak as fruitful and positive.

Previous Stories:
  Maher denies Syrian- Egyptian disagreements on the summit   (3/30/2004)
  Al-Shara conveys a message from al-Assad to Mubarak   (3/24/2004)
  Al-Shara in Cairo: the assassination will increase the cycle of violence   (3/23/2004)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search