Tireless efforts to get region out of current crisis

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Sunday that tireless efforts were underway to get the region out of the crisis brought about by the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Speaking to diplomatic editors after his meeting with PLO Executive Committee Secretary Mahmoud Abbas,Abu Mazen, Maher said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must attend the coming Arab Summit, adding that Egypt was holding contacts to ensure that.

Abu Mazen, on his part, said he discussed with Maher the outcome of the talks of Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Ahmed Korei with Sharon on Wednesday.

Whether he felt there was any glimmer of hope after his meeting with Sharon he said, "We cannot say there is hope but we have to resort to every possible way in order to bring security and stability back to the region".

Asked whether they agreed to hold other meetings with the Israelis after the return of the Palestinian delegation from Washington, he said of course more meetings should be held, but so far nothing has been agreed upon.

On whether Sharon's meeting with him could be seen as a preparation for replacing Arafat, Abu Mazen said, "This is nonsense.

I went to see Sharon by order from Arafat and with his full approval. We will not allow anyone to play such a game with us ".

On reports that the Palestinians were about to sign an agreement with the Israeli side, whereby they would accept the return of only 40 per cent of their lands, Abu Mazen said "we will not accept anything less than 100 percent of our lands, just as the case was with Egypt and Jordan." this issue is not even for discussion."

On US Secretary of State Colin Powell's statements that a cease-fire agreement was about to be reached he said,"The Palestinians have rejected from the very beginning the idea of a one week of absolute calm because something could happen on the seventh day that could bring us back to zero point,".

"If the Israelis got out of the lands they had re-occupied, I think everything will be over," he added.