Moussa: Israel must build confidence in peace process

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has asserted the importance of Israel honoring obligations and agreements signed by former governments and to halt settlement building as a set precondition to build confidence in the Middle East peace process, "which was destroyed by [former] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

In a statement he made on Tuesday following talks between President Mubarak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Moussa stressed the importance of halting the Israeli settlement policy and of putting an end to the policy of confiscating Arab lands and demolishing Arab houses.

Moussa highlighted the importance of initiating new measures to "rebuild the confidence which was destroyed by (outgoing) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

These measures include "implementing the Wye River accord, halting the construction of Jewish settlements and ending the confiscation of Palestinian land and demolition of Palestinian houses."

Moussa added that the political program of the new Israeli government was more important than the formation of the cabinet. He also highlighted the importance of launching intensive Arab consultations and contacts over the Israeli new policy.

Moussa said the two leaders had also addressed the question of "how far the Israeli policy towards peace will change" with Barak in power. "Everyone is cautiously hopeful," Moussa said. "This hope is based on the end of the rule of an extremist right-wing party (in Israel) that was not able to understand the real conditions for building peace."

He added that Netanyahu's coalition "was not ready to accept the conditions and points agreed upon (by the peace parties), including the land-for peace formula."

Moussa added that as part of the pan-Arab consultations, Mubarak would hold talks with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after he ends his current visit to Moscow. "They have not yet agreed on a certain date for the meeting but our contacts are continuous," he said.

He also ruled out a possible summit for the Arab states neighboring Israel: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian government. Moussa welcomed as a "very useful" the appointment of Former Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy as Israel's new foreign minister. "It is his third time to assume this post and this is very important because he is not going to start from square one."

The Egyptian Minister, meanwhile, praised as "positive and reasonable" statements by US President Clinton on the return of Palestinian refugees to the Palestinian-ruled territories. "This may be the only solution to the problem of refugees," he said.

Speaking in a joint press conference in with President Mubarak in Washington, Clinton said the US backed the right of the Palestinian refugees to return their land under an agreement with Israel. His statements, however, ignited Israeli protests.