President Mubarak will not visit Israel

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stated that he does not intend to visit Israel at the present, SANA reported.

In statements he made to the Egyptian weekly "October" issued on Sunday, the Egyptian president said that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had destroyed the peace process. Mubarak added that Netanyahu has escalated tensions in the region, a matter which has made "talk about any visit to Israel seem too far."

President Mubarak called upon Israel and its new government, chaired by Ehud Barak, to show "the good intention towards peace in order to convince public opinion of the "seriousness of the Israeli stances concerning peace."