Egypt refuses to receive Netanyahu, warns against Israeli evasion

Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has stressed his country's refusal to receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, if Netanyahu cannot provide anything new to the Middle East peace process.

In a statement to the London-based daily al-Hayat issued yesterday, Moussa said: "We are not ready to facilitate for Netanyahu to swallow Palestine or to put pressures on the Palestinians."

Moussa asserted the need for the establishment of a Palestinian state and for the Palestinian people to have the right to self-determination. Moussa also noted the importance of reaching agreements on the questions of the refugees, Jerusalem, borders and waters, stressing that Egypt will only accept a balanced peace and will not enable Israel to fulfill its greed in swallowing Palestine.

He expressed satisfaction with the attitudes shown by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright concerning the Middle East, describing that her address at the Press Institute in Washington last August as an integrated strategic proposal of the US conception of peace.

Concerning the Damascus Declaration, which brings together Syria, Egypt and the GCC states, Moussa said the Damascus Declaration is a field for political consultation that should proceed as an important Arab alliance.

Moussa also called upon Turkey to reconsider its alliance with Israel, adding, "Our policy is to preserve relations with Turkey, because the door of Turkey to the Middle East is an Arab one rather than Israeli."