Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak underlined that Egypt has been playing its part in the Middle East peace process since the Camp David agreement in 1979 as it believes that peace is conducive to stability and it is in the good of all the region’s countries.

    This came in an interview given by Mubarak to Russian RTR TV and broadcast late Sunday.

    "Egypt is working, along with Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, to render the process a success," said Mubarak.

    "The Egyptian-Jordanian initiative is quite simple and resembles the deal understanding reached in Sharm El-Sheikh in September1999," said the Egyptian President.

    "It is in Egypt’s interest to share healthy ties with all world countries as well as to have the Palestinian issue settled and the normalization of Israeli Palestinian ties for calm to prevail," said Mubarak.

    Egypt has good ties with all world countries including Israel but the only problem lies in peace as regional stability is sought, he added.

    On the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, Mubarak said that Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had described it in the very outset as dead and trivial but then when they (the Israelis) studied it they saw it as worthy of examining.

    "The initiative is based on the signed understandings in Sharm El-Sheikh in September 1999 that was approved by the Israeli Knesset, but former Israeli Premier Ehud Barak could not put it into effect,’ said Mubarak.

    Mubarak praised Russian cooperation with Egypt during the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) era, giving example of the building of the High Dam.

    "The US and Russia are the main sponsors of peace in the Middle East," said Mubarak. He reaffirmed the constant cooperation between Egypt and Russia and hoped more cooperation and better bilateral ties would be confirmed in the future.

    Mubarak termed as practical and pragmatic his talks with President Vladimir Putin and said that the aim of the visit was to promote the already-existing cooperation in the economic, military and political domains.

    "Egypt has close and honest cooperation with all Arab countries," said Mubarak.