Mubarak insists on rights of Palestinians, diplomacy with Iran

In his interview with the French TV Channel 3, President Mubarak noted that the Arab peace initiative included very good points such as the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees.

Answering a question on Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, Mubarak said that Syrian president Bashar Al Assad said time and again that he would implement the UNSC resolution 1559.

As for the possibility of the breaking out of a civil war in Lebanon, President Mubarak said that he did not believe things will get to that extent.

Answering a question, on the Iranian nuclear program, President Mubarak said that any problem concerning it can be solved via peaceful means. He called upon the US to steer away from the option of war against Iran and urged Europe to continue its good offices between Tehran and Washington to put an end to this problem.

Any military operation in Iran, said the president, will lead to a disaster in the region.

The region is already laden with problems: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in Syria and Lebanon and in Iraq along with Afghanistan, he pointed out.

As for whether there were any pressures behind his decision to introduce amendments to the Egyptian constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections, the President said Egypt, has never succumbed to outside pressures at any time in its history. The Egyptian government takes its decisions for one purpose only, and that purpose is to serve the best interest of the Egyptian people, he stressed.