Italy seeks notification about counter - terrorist measures
Egypt, Local, 11/29/1997

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met yesterday with the head of foreign relations committee in the Italian parliament, Achille Ochetto, while he was in Cairo on a tour of a number of regional countries.

After the meeting Ochetto stated that his talks with Moussa had dealt with the situation in the Middle East, the recent special communication related to the situation between Iraq and United Nations, and the development of peace process on the Israeli - Palestinian track.

They also exchanged points of view concerning terrorism, its causes and how to confront it. Ochetto added that he had reassured Moussa about the trust and support of Italian tourism in Egypt and economic cooperation and investment. Ochetto asked for a notification for Italy concerning the security measures taken by Egypt to confront terrorism, so as to enhance trust in Egypt, he said.

In an answer to the question about his impressions after his visits to Luxor and Aswan during the last 2 days, Ochetto said: "Actually I saw great strict measures for securing tourists, the monuments and tourist sites."

Concerning whether Israel acknowledges the European role in the peace process, Ochetto said that Israel should accept the European political role since it accepts aid and economic cooperation from Europe. He also said that although there has been a decrease in the European initiatives toward the peace process in the Middle East, "We should not leave the United States to act alone, and immediately after my return to Italy I will present my point of view to the parliament."

Answering a question on the possibility of European economic pressure on Israel in order to compel Israel to continue in a positive direction in the peace process, Ochetto said there are different points of view concerning this issue in Europe, political pressure is preferred over economic pressure.

Answering another question about the number of terrorist leaders residing in some European countries, Ochetto said that there should be international cooperation for confronting terrorism in order to distinguish between the terrorism and the right of asylum. He said the European security bodies will be capable of differentiating between these two cases within cooperation with the Mediterranean and Middle East countries.

Ochetto added that he's directing a call to all European democratic forces. If there is retreat in the peace process, it will be the responsibility of these democratic forces, especially because these forces will be responsible of the failure which could confront the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Previous Stories:
  Luxor terrorists trained in Afghan camps   (11/25/1997)
  New Egyptian minister of interior moves decisively to improve security   (11/19/1997)
  Egypt to host Interpol conference   (10/24/1997)

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

Search