Arab and international debates concentrating Israeli-Syrian negotiations
US President Bill Clinton on Thursday received Bahrain's crown prince and discussed with him the future of the Middle East peace process.
AFP commented in this regard that the Middle East peace process, in which Clinton is personally involved, constitutes the best chance for him to end his eight-year rule of the US, adding that President Clinton is still determined to put all his weight to end 50 years of conflict in the Middle East and to establish peace in the region before next summer.
In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed on Thursday with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook the Middle East peace process, its developments, the situation in Iraq, bilateral relations-- especially in the economic field-- and the possibility of increasing investment opportunities between the two countries. Cook expressed his optimism over the progress of Syrian-Israeli negotiations and attaining results in the interests of a genuine peace.
In Amman, Jordan's King Abdullah II received a telephone call from President Mubarak, during which viewpoints were exchanged on current conditions in the region, especially the peace process.
In Tunisia, President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali met on Thursday with Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes where talks dealt with the Middle East peace process.
In Paris, the French Foreign Ministry expressed cautious optimism towards the possibility of eliminating obstacles and problems impeding the peace process on the Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian tracks with Israel.
A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, Francois Revasso, said in an exclusive statement to the Lebanese daily Nidaa al-Watan that this cautious optimism is because the agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis are facing difficulties in implementation, and the same holds for the negotiations between Syria and Israel.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met on Thursday with Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Suleiman Majid al-Shahin to discuss Middle East peace process developments, and the Iraqi question in light of the resent resolutions of the UN Security Council concerning Iraq.
Al-Shahin, currently visiting Moscow, underlined the importance of cooperation with Russia and the identical viewpoints towards stances in the two countries towards all issues debated during the talks.
He made it clear that the talks were a continuation of the active dialogue between Russia and Kuwait in all political, economic, trade, military and technical areas.
