Mubarak meets US delegation, asserts importance of Syrian-Lebanese peace tracks
Egypt-USA, Politics, 4/1/1999

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday received a delegation representing the US Congress in the presence of the president's political advisor, Osama El-Baz.

Following the meeting El-Baz said that Mubarak discussed his views on the situation in the region and the Middle East peace process on all tracks and the need to revive them on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. El-Baz added that talks dealt with bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the USA in economic and cultural fields and regarding military aid.

El-Baz stressed the right of the Palestinians to self-determination and the establishment of their own independent state. He added that the Israelis are the ones who obstruct peace efforts on all tracks and called upon Israel to abide by peace basics for the interests of all and to ensure stability in the region.

"Since many of the articles of this agreement have not been implemented, the United States must do something about the failure to honor the agreement," El-Baz said.

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa criticized the Israeli decision to close three Palestinian offices in Jerusalem. "This escalation is part of the ongoing Israeli policy to challenge, undermine and complicate the peace process," Moussa said, adding that these sort of unilateral steps "contradict the essence of the Wye River accord, the Geneva convention and the international law."

In press statements he made in Cairo on Wednesday, Moussa warned against the current Israeli policy which means a total destruction of the Middle East peace process, regardless of who will be the Israeli prime minister. "If they oppose the principle (of a state), it would be useless to open negotiations on the date," Moussa said.

He indicated the positive role advocated last week by the EU in rejecting the Israeli settlement policy and in calling for the need to support the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination and to the establishment of their own independent state.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian - Senegalese FMs discuss African disputes   (3/31/1999)
  US First Lady Clinton visits Luxor   (3/24/1999)
  Egyptian Shura council denounces Israel's disavowal of pacts signed with Arabs   (3/23/1999)

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