Talks of the Egyptian delegation to Washington focused on clarifying Egypt's stance towards the peace process in the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear file. The delegation delivered a written message from President Mubarak to his US counterpart on the Egyptian vision. The message has been received by Obama's National Security Adviser, James Jones. "Egypt's stance towards the peace process is based on an immediate cessation of Israeli settlement and the Palestinian side's acceptance to negotiate on the exchange of land," Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said.
In his meeting with the Egyptian journalists in Washington, Abul-Gheit said, "If the Palestinians accepted the land exchange, Egypt would propose to exchange lands with the same space and quality. The geography of the future Palestinian state would be based on the borders of 1967."
"All the Israeli settlements are illegitimate, unacceptable and illegal," he added.
With regard to his talks with the US officials last Tuesday at the presence of chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Services Omar Suleiman, Abul-Gheit said the talks "focused" on the Palestinian settlement and the need for an active and quick political process to change the status quo and reach a final solution for the Palestinian problem. During its talks with Jones, the Egyptian side focused on the fact that Washington should develop a US integrated vision to deal with all elements of the Palestinian problem to achieve the two-state solution and illustrate many points regarding the settlement.
Abul-Gheit said he and Suleiman received instructions from President Mubarak on how to offer Egypt's vision towards settlement, which is based on the principle of the two-state solution.
If Israel took major steps reflecting its credibility and seriousness towards settlement and the US proposal, I think the Arab countries, or some of them at least, would accept such steps at different speeds according to each country's vision. It is too early to talk about opening airlines or other offices between the Arab countries and Israel. Abul-Gheit and Suleiman stressed the importance of the Arab peace initiative and the necessity of separating between Iran's nuclear problem with the West and, on the other hand, the necessity of reaching a quick settlement for the Palestinian problem.
"Iran's problem needs an effective international move while the Palestinian cause, on the other side, is the essence of the Middle East's conflict," Minister Abul-Gheit said.
On the other hand, Egypt and the United States signed an agreement yesterday in Washington to establish a bilateral strategic economic partnership.
Immediately after signing the agreement, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid, said this agreement includes a plan of action on issues relating to trade and investment at the bilateral, regional and international levels. A working group will be formed from the two states to identify the most important areas of work, including trade, intellectual property rights, services and information technology sector, environment, employment and renewable energy. Rashid, who concluded his visit to the United States yesterday, said it was agreed to join Menya and Beni Suef to the QIZ protocol.
