Moussa confers with Moratinos on Mideast peace process
Egypt-European Union, Politics, 12/17/1999

Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa yesterday conferred with visiting EU Mideast envoy Miguel Moratinos on the latest developments of the Middle East peace process.

On Egypt's expectations vis-a-vis the Syrian-Israeli peace talks. "We hope the best for Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al Sharaa and we wish all success for the bilateral and three-way meetings in Washington. This means moving towards an Israeli-Syrian settlement on the basis of the land-for-peace principle and Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian Golan," he said.

Moussa said the resumption of Mideast multilateral talks is possible after two months or so in light of the resumption of Syria-Israel negotiations. Moussa said, however, that there is a long way before holding a fresh round of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) conference.

Following the meeting, Moratinos said that discussions dealt with issues pertaining to the Palestinian track and the situation as regards the Israeli settlement activities. "Egypt and the EU are worried about the Israeli settlement activities that could blow up confidence and possibility of achieving progress in the negotiations," Morations added. He said he informed Moussa that "the EU intends to facilitate and support the Syrian-Israeli negotiations." "The European support is not confined to being economic but could be an effective political partnership in some domains, with the approval of the parties involved, in order to reach positive results," he added.

Answering a question on whether the European side has played a role in resumption of negotiations on the Syrian track, Moratinos said that the parties concerned appreciate efforts exerted by the EU over the past three years and keenness on resuming the negotiations on the Syrian track. Praising efforts exerted by the American administration, as well as by the EU and the EU chairmanship that Finland holds at present, he said these all contributed to resumption of the Syrian-Israeli track.

In reply to a question on whether he discussed with Moussa new ideas to push forward the Lebanese track, he said that as for the Lebanese track, we are waiting for the outcome of the Washington meeting between the Syrian and Israeli sides. "The European side is interested in playing a role in security arrangements and south Lebanon's reconstruction but it is premature to speak about that," he added.

Moratinos arrived in Cairo late Tuesday for talks with Arab league and Egyptian officials on latest developments on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak calls for a peace that restores the whole of the Golan   (12/10/1999)
  Mubarak confers with Finnish Foreign Minister   (8/3/1999)
  Moussa confirms European peace role   (7/31/1999)

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