Mubarak's visit to Washington is of special importance

Egypt's former ambassador to Israel and Shura Council member Mohamed Bassiouni underlined Sunday the importance of President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Washington at this time when the United States is evaluating the Middle East scene to come up with certain steps to solve the Palestinian issue.

In an interview to Good Morning, Egypt TV programme, Bassiouni said, "President Mubarak will offer his viewpoint on a solution to get the Palestinians out of the dilemma and then sit at the negotiating table to reach a final solution leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,".

On the proposed international peace conference, Bassiouni said that it is not important to take new decisions but rather implementation of the previous ones, including resolution 242, on whose basis Israel has to withdraw from the occupied territories.

On the rejection of Likud Party and Israeli government to deal with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, Bassiouni said Ariel Sharon refuses to deal with Arafat for strictly personal reasons:

Bassiouni noted that Abu Ammar is a symbol of the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority that getting rid of him would be ssimibar to elimination of the central authority.

"Sharon's raising of these issues is meant to drive attentions away from the main theme, that is termination of the Israeli occupation and withdrawal from all the lands occupied in 1967," he added.