The Czech stresses its policy in support of ME peace

The spokesman for the Czech President Ladislav Sbasik said on Friday that the Czech president Vatislav Havel stressed in a message to his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak that his country's policy in the Middle East has not changed and that the Czech continues work according to the aim of attaining peace and dialogue.

Havel added in his message that "provocative statements can only lead to further misunderstanding and the escalation of violence," in remarks to statements attributed to the Czech prime minister Milos Zeman against the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat.

According to the Israeli daily Haartez in its Monday's issue, Zeman compared Arafat to Hitler and said that Arafat and the Palestinians should not be negotiated with.

In a denial statement made on Tuesday, Zeman justified the matter as a mistake in the "points" that resulted in a mistake in his answer to a question raised by Haartez.

Havel stressed in his message to President Mubarak "I would like to assure you that the Czech foreign policy works for resuming the Middle East peace process.