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Mubarak: Sharon can make peace
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the Palestinians' best chance for peace. Mubarak's comments echoed those of his foreign minister, who returned the day before from a rare trip to Israel, that were strikingly upbeat and could mean warming relations between the Jewish state and an important Middle East peace mediator at a crucial time. "I think if they [Palestinians] can't achieve progress in the time of the current [Israeli] prime minister, it will be very difficult to make any progress in peace. He [Sharon] is capable of pursuing peace, and he is capable of reaching solutions, if he wants to," Mubarak told reporters in Port Said, where he had gone to inaugurate a new port project. Mubarak urged the Palestinians, who are to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat on January 9, to unite behind Mahmoud Abbas, the interim Palestinian leader. He criticized rival Marwan Barghouti's decision to run in the election. "Israel's prime minister said he was ready to do what the Palestinians want, to facilitate the election and help in removing the checkpoints. He only asks for one thing: the end of the explosions, so they can work together on a solid basis," Mubarak said. Israel will not launch attacks or raids against Palestinians if the situation remains calm and it is not provoked, Sharon said at a meeting of newspaper editors on Thursday. However, Israel would act if it had information about "ticking bombs" or if Palestinians fired rockets at Israel, he said. Posted by: Fred 2004-12-06 |
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