Opposition parties laud Mubarak's rejection to extend water to Israel

The Egyptian opposition parties lauded the decision of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to extend the water of the River Nile to Israel. They also called on the Egyptian authorities to boycott the MENA conference in Qatar due to be held next month.

The left wing Egyptian party Al Tagamou said Mubarak's statements were very appropriate as they answer the repeated Israeli requests to extend the water of the River Nile to Israel through the Naqab desert and calmed down the worries of the Egyptian people.

A government official stressed the need to pass laws to protect Sinai from Israeli infiltration and to prohibit foreigners from possessing lands in that area to protect the national security of Egypt.

The Nasserist party criticized the slackness of the government in declaring its boycott of the MENA conference and linking this boycotting to achieving progress in the peace process. An official spokesman of the party said that it is not plausible to link Egypt's participation to achieving progress in the peace process amidst the continuation of the Zionist intransigent policies.