Egypt's ties with Israel always at service of peacemaking, says Maher

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher Thursday said that Egypt's ties with Israel had always been for the service of establishing fair and durable peace in the Middle East. He told the CNN that it would be difficult for the Israelis, however, ill-intentioned they might be, to continue to defy world pressure.

He added that Israel was jeopardising interests of all sides concerned, including Egypt and the US. The Israeli acts target not only the Palestinians but the hopes hinged on regional peacemaking, he said.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Jordan followed in 1994.

Maher said that the views aired by US Secretary of State Colin Powell were encouraging. The Egyptian official predicted that Powell's meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would be very important.

Egypt wants the US to be more firm with Israel and bring to its attention that its acts would lead nowhere, said Maher.

He added that the Arab people as well as their governments were angry over Israeli practices.

The top Egyptian diplomat cited development in the US and European stances, referring to what he termed as a strong statement released in Madrid on Wednesday following a meeting between officials from the UN, the US, Russia and the EU.