Syrian - Egyptian summit in Sharm El-Sheikh
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met on Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss the latest developments in the region and the Arab arenas.
Special emphasis was laid on the current status of the peace process, Palestinian - Israeli agreements and their effects and relations between Syria and Turkey following the diffusion of the recent tensions between the two states.
This meeting was followed by a closed-door meeting between the two presidents.
Members of both sides held a meeting to discuss the details of issues covered in the initial meeting. Following a luncheon banquet President Mubarak held in honor of President al-Assad and his companions, the two Presidents held a meeting attended by members of the Syrian and Egyptian delegations.
Earlier in the day, President al-Assad arrived at Sharm El-Sheikh city in Sinai province on a visit to Egypt, where he was officially welcomed by President Mubarak. However, in press statements made following his farewell to President al-Assad, President Mubarak commended coordination with Syria and the "two countries incessant consultation towards serving Arab causes."
President Mubarak added that his regular meetings with President al-Assad are aimed at "strengthening Arab solidarity and boosting bilateral ties."
On Syria's attitude towards current developments of the peace process after the signing of the Wye plantation accord, the Egyptian president said, "Syria's attitude is firm and clear-cut, derived from commitment to the Madrid principles and to resuming negotiations from the point where the process had stopped at and according to obligations conducive to Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights."
On the positions of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his attempts to bypass the "land for peace" principle, the Egyptian President said the principle is the care of the peace process. He described Netanyahu's proposals as "meaningless."
"There will be neither security nor stability in the region unless Arab rights are fully restored," President Mubarak added. He expressed satisfaction over the outcome of recent negotiations between Syria and Turkey, stressing the importance of settling all pending issues with a view to bringing relations between the two neighbors back to normality.
Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa' and the Syrian ambassador in Cairo, Issa Darwish, attended the meeting. On the Egyptian side, the meeting was attended by Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri, Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, Minister of Tourism Mamdouh al-Baltaji, President Mubarak's advisor for political affairs Osama el-Baz and the Egyptian ambassador in Damascus.