Syrian ­ Egyptian Presidents hold a meeting Summit in damascus

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Monday held talks "on the complicated situation caused as a result of Israel's non- commitment to peace obligations, its aggression against the unarmed Palestinian people and the holy shines as well as the continuous threats against the Arab people."

The two Presidents also discussed the Arab states' tasks and responsibilities in the current phase, and the importance of joint consultation and coordination and reviewed the current contacts in the Arab regional, and international arenas, and exchanged view points in this respect.

The two presidents also expressed deep sire to consolidate Arab solidarity, and joint Arab action particularly because of the current circumstances.

The meeting between the two presidents which was held at the Damascus al-Shaab presidential place was attended by members of the Egyptian delegation, accompanying President Mubarak and on the Syrian side was attended by the two vice Presidents, Abdul Halim Khaddam and Zuheir Masharqa, the prime minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro, the Foreign minister Farouk al-Shara' the minister of communications, the minister of electricity, the information minister Adnan Omran and the minister for Presidential affairs.

This plenary meeting was followed by a close door meeting between the two presidents.

Later in the day President Mubarak left damascus and was seen off by President al-Assad and high ranking Syrian officials.

In a joint press conference with President Mubarak, President Bashar al-Assad said: " the threat of war means an aggression and Israel's aggression has always been adamant," noting that " so as we are now not in a state of peace." He added that " A long time ago, there has been a daily aggression by Israel in different parts of the Arab territories. The Israeli are threatening of something which virtually exists."

In the press conference which followed the two Presidents talks in Damascus, President Mubarak stressed the continuation of mutual visits and meetings as a continuation of the previous policy. He added that Syria and Egypt's cooperation is the backbone of the entire Arab nation, referring to the two countries's coordination during the October War of liberation in 1973 and stressed the continuation of bilateral cooperation with President Bashar al-Assad, who represents the continuation of the policy pursued by his late father Hafez al-Assad. President Mubarak added: " I am always happy to come to Syria and to meet with the President and our Syrian brothers."

Answering a question on the recent Israeli threats to extend the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to convert it into a regional war, President al-Assad said there were always threat by Israel from time to time, and the reaction was always a confirmation of Arab rights and not fleeing backward or forward. As for coordination between Syria and the Palestinians, President al-Assad said that Syria has been the first who called for coordination and has remained calling for coordination ever since.

He continued that Syria has not objected to hold meetings with the Palestinians officials and the meetings are currently held with them.

On the new American Administration, President al-Assad said" We expect everything, but the most important thing is what we hope. This is because we can expect good and bad things altogether. But we hope that every new days would be better. Every new administration would be better than the previous, every new President would be better than the former one."

He continued:" Of course, we hope that this US administration will be serious and effective to reactivate the peace process in the region.

On the peace process he added " Had the peace process depended on Syria only, it would have been possible to search for substitutes. But as you know the peace process has several parties including Syria and Lebanon, the Arab party in general, the Israeli party and the co-sponsors too, basically the American.

He extended a call for a European role, UN role. Every party has to contribute to finding a solution.

For his part, the Egyptian President condemned Israel's non abidance with the international resolutions and threatening the future of the peace process.

The Israeli parties' competition is an internal crisis. But, the basis of the problem is to attain stability and security in the region.

He continued that stability and security will never be achieved unless a just and comprehensive peace is realized and the occupied Arab lands and usurped rights are restored.

As for Arab solidarity, the Egyptian President said that he had repeatedly talked about the establishment of an Arab common market. He noted that the inter- Arab trade does not exceeds 9.8%, whereas the other big part is with European countries and out of the Arab region.

Concerning the future of relations between Egypt and Iraq, President Mubarak underlined the importance Egypt pins on the future of Iraq like any other Arab country member at the Arab league, the same as Syria looks Iraq.

He noted his country's care for maintaining stability of the Iraqi people, adding in this regard that he will be meeting with the Iraqi vice President who will visit Cairo soon to sign a trade agreement between Iraq and Egypt.