Cairo says the Palestinians and the Israelis must sit at the same table and hammer out their differences. Nevine Khalil reports Egypt dispatched two top envoys to the West Bank and Israel last week to speak with the Palestinians and Israelis. By late in the week, Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher had briefed President Hosni Mubarak on their findings. His advise for both sides: "Don't waste time. Go to the negotiating table; there's no other way." Cairo believes the only way out of the long-standing conflict is to sit the two sides together for talks; this is the view Mubarak conveyed to both Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, during weekend telephone conversations. On Friday, Mubarak told Arafat to "make contact with the Israelis and begin negotiations without preconditions". He has spoken to the Palestinian leader several times since for updates on what steps have been taken to bring the viewpoints closer. "I asked the Palestinians to put all the issues on the negotiating table," Mubarak told the television programme "Good Morning Egypt", on Saturday. "Sitting at the negotiating table gives people hope for peace." When Sharon called the Egyptian president to offer him greetings for Eid Al-Adha, Mubarak conveyed the same message -- that if both sides were sitting at the negotiating table discussing all the issues, a better outcome would emerge. Sharon, apparently, accused the Palestinians of hesitating and wasting time. Afterwards, Mubarak said he thought "the process could move forward" because "both sides said they were willing to enter negotiations". Meanwhile, according to Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat, Egypt is preparing to host another round of talks among armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas, Jihad, and Fatah, although no date has been set. Suleiman was Egypt's point man at these talks, which began some 12 months ago. While they resulted in a one-sided truce for a while last year, the cease-fire was ruptured when Israel continued to assassinate the leaders of these Palestinian groups. Mubarak said that even if the Palestinians adopted another armistice, as was the case for 51 days last summer, "the only way to cement it is through Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and a halt of Israeli provocations." Cairo's call for direct, one-on-one talks between the two sides is primarily motivated by the fact that Washington will be paying minimal attention to peace-keeping in the Middle East as it busies itself with presidential elections. On "Good Morning Egypt", Mubarak described US peace process efforts as "limited". But without US and European help, he stressed, little can be done. "Egypt's role is to speak to the Palestinians and Israelis and continue contacts," Mubarak said, but "influence mainly comes from the US and the EU". On 29 January, Mubarak also told Italian news agency ANSA that past experience indicated that no progress can be made without viable pressure from the US and Europe. "Now is the time to exercise this pressure," he urged, warning that attempts to resolve the conflict via an increased Israeli propensity to use violence and destruction would only result in more bloodshed and the deaths of innocent victims. The peace process and stability in the region were also at the centre of talks between Mubarak and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao, who arrived in Cairo on 29 January. The two leaders agreed that peace and stability would be catalysed by both progress on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks, as well as by making the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction. Mubarak went further, telling a joint news conference that completely removing WMDs from the region would be a "pillar" for regional stability. Stabilising the Iraqi situation was another issue discussed by the two leaders. Both believe that a bigger role for the UN, and increased cooperation in reconstructing the war-torn country, would also benefit the region. Egypt and China are considering joint projects in rebuilding Iraq and restoring order there. Talks between Mubarak and Jintao were spaced out over several days during the Chinese president's four-day visit. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and signed cooperation agreements in investment, trade, technology and the broadcast media. According to the Chinese leader, building stronger strategic Sino-Egyptian ties would better the chances of peace, stability and security in the Middle East. He believes that Egypt can be the gateway to many Arab markets where China is interested in economic expansion. Trade between China and the Arab region multiplied 10-fold over the past decade, reaching $25.4 billion last year. Commenting on the state of Arab affairs, Mubarak told Egyptian TV on the eve of eid that he was "dissatisfied" with the Arab nation's fractured state. "It is futile for each country to work alone," he said, adding that the Arab summit scheduled to take place in Tunisia in March must have a realistic, concise and precise agenda so as to avoid being a waste of time.
