CAIRO - Egypt hopes that a Palestinian state will be recognised this autumn, Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi said, revealing that his country is pressing the world to recognise such a state. "We support it [statehood] very much. We are pressing all our friends. We are pressing the Europeans. We hope they will all recognise Palestine," el-Arabi told The Washington Post in an interview published Saturday. He added that he had told the US State Secretary that the Palestinians wanted peace, which was why "we had to press for unity among Palestinians”. "We would like to see a recognition of the state of Palestine by the overwhelming majority of UN member states," Egypt's top diplomat said, pointing out that his hope for this had been inspired by the US. US President Barack Obama said last year he would like to see a Palestinian state by next September. Asked about the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, el-Arabi said the purpose was to help achieve peace. "We pressed that we would like to get unity between the Palestinian factions so that they would be ready to enter into negotiations with Israel," el-Arabi, who took over early in March, said. "We want unity in the Palestinian house. It is in the interest of both groups, it is in the interest of Israel," he added. Meanwhile, el-Arabi said that Egypt hadn't taken a final decision to normalise ties with Iran. "No decision has been made on Iran. Every country in the world has relations with Iran except three[the United States], Egypt and Israel," the Egyptian diplomat said. Egypt and Iran severed ties in 1979, after the former signed a peace treaty with Israel.
