Abul Gheit: Cooperation with Europe for establishing ME peace
Egypt-Palestine-European Union, Politics, 11/8/2005

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has stressed the importance of coordinating with European states in preparing for the first summit to be attended by European and Mediterranean countries in Barcelona on November 27.

Abul Gheit said Egypt rejects anti-Semitism and consequently any hostile attitude towards Islam. He stressed the importance of acting with Europe towards enhancing peace efforts in the Middle East, reiterating that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza must lead to other steps.

Meanwhile, Israel stressed Monday the importance of Egypt's role in reaching an agreement on opening the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

An Israeli source said the latest visit to Cairo by the Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was both successful and fruitful, adding that Egypt plays an extremely significant role in reaching an agreement on opening the Rafah crossing.

In the meantime, Saeb Erekat, the chairman of the Palestinian negotiations department said a Palestinian Israeli meeting would be held shortly followed by tripartite talks attended by James Wolfensohn, the- Quartet representative.

Erekat said a European team would take part in bilateral negotiations. He added that these meetings aim at reaching an agreement on reopening the Rafah crossing permanently.

Erekat said Israel still adheres to its stance regarding the role of monitors, adding there were still some disagreements. He said Israel wants to remotely run the crossing.

On the Israeli demands, Erekat said Israel has expressed its wish to install monitoring cameras which means that Israelis want to run the crossing indirectly adding that this completely unacceptable.

This came at the time when Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said there are still disagreements between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on the Rafah crossing indicating that Israel has some requests regarding operation which can not be accepted.

He expressed hope that these disagreements could be ironed during the visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region in the few day to comes.

He said Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem; its expanding of settlements and the separation wall are crimes which must not be disregarded.

He called on the world community to bring pressure to bear on Israel in order to violence in Palestinian lands.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt debunks Israeli claim on Palestinians   (10/31/2005)
  Egypt, Israel agreement over Rafah crossing   (10/27/2005)
  Egypt: Lack of movement on the peace road sends wrong message to Palestinians   (10/25/2005)
  Mubarak, Abbas tackle outcome of foreign tour   (10/24/2005)
  42 joint projects with European universities   (10/13/2005)
  Talks between Larsen and Mubarak on the situation in Lebanon   (9/30/2005)
  Egyptian FM appreciates EU position   (6/2/2005)

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

Search