July  16, 2002

Mubarak terms talks with Ben-Eleizer as "constructive"

President Hosni Mubarak described his talks with Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Ben-Eleizer on Monday as very constructive.

    "We agreed on the ways to push forward the peace process," Mubarak said at a press conference after meeting Ben-Eleizer at Ras al-Tin Palace in Alexandria. The Palestinians' sufferings will come to an end only through peace, he said.

    "We are trying to help as much as we can. But we need flexibility and help from Israel so that the peace process can start.

    "We totally agree that using force will never settle the problem because there was never any problem in the world solved by force," Mubarak said. Mubarak warned that using force will deepen hatreds among peoples.

    "These hatreds can take a long tone more than we can ever imagine," he said.

    President Mubarak said the issue requires patience and insistence to move ahead in the direction of peace. On Israel's stance towards keeping Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in power, Mubarak said Arafat as written in all world papers is the father of all Palestinians. "We can reach a way that can help lead to resuming negotiations without infringement on Arafat," he said.

    On the four-way meeting in New York, Mubarak said, "I cannot predict anything before the meeting can take place but I know the meeting will deal with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and that it will cover the political issues that we can never ignore".

    President Mubarak termed as "constructive" the plan put forth by Israeli Labour Party Ben-Eleizer as regards the Middle East conflict.

    "I do not want to enter in any detail because there is still the Likud. But after all it is still a suggestion that can be raised at the negotiating table," the President said.

    With negotiations and concessions by both sides, the peace process can go on, he said. Asked whether the Egyptian government is still considering Arafat the only legitimate leader of the Palestinians, Mubarak said, "we have principles that we will not change as long as we are convinced of their seriousness".

    On the reason why Mubarak do not talk with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon like he talks with Arafat, Mubarak said, "Sharon talked to me over phone just one time and only for a couple of minutes and that's all. How can I talk to him? What I need is a give-and-take conversation".