Mubarak urges Europe to pressure Israel to abide by peace

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Tuesday urged Europe to put pressure on Israel to abide by Middle East peace agreements.

The Egyptian President, who along with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac has called for an international peace conference to revive the Middle East peace process, accused Israel of "seizing upon the most futile pretexts" to violate the Oslo peace accords.

He expressed hope for a more active and stronger role from France and Europe in order to convince Israel of the need to abide by its commitments and "keep its word." This was expressed in a lunch address made by Mubarak to French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on Tuesday, the second day of his official visit to France.

A trade dispute has loomed between Israel and the European Union EU as the European Commission last week called for the EU to stop any imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.