German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Saturday that delaying an international peace conference could dampen the momentum for Middle East peace.
"We should act in proper time (so as) not to lose any momentum," Fischer told a news conference after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, who attended Fischer's meeting with Mubarak, said it was important that the peace conference be well prepared. "If the basis is agreed, if the principles will be agreed upon, then we can have the conference. July, August, June, we didn't discuss that. The important thing is the preparation," Maher aired.
"Unless this conference takes place soon, it will suffer the fate of the proposal of former U.S. Senator (George) Mitchell, meaning that it turns from a living idea to a mantra," Fischer told German radio in Jerusalem on Friday. "We must see to it that we get this going before the summer break (in August), as the closer we come to the U.S. congressional elections, the more American domestic politics come into the play," Fischer added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
