Speaking to reporters at the Presidential headquarters, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said that in protest against Israel's killing of Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Egypt would not attend the Israeli Knesset's celebrations marking the anniversary of the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Camp David peace treaty.
Expressing deep sorrow for the death of Sheikh Yassin, Mubarak warned of the dire consequences of the "completely meaningless and miscalculated Israeli action."
He noted that the assassination of Sheikh Yassin aborted all efforts to push forward the peace process. He said that he discussed the tragedy with US officials, who informed him of their surprise over what happened.
Israel has made a mistake making use of the US preoccupation of the presidential elections to carry out such an atrocious act, Mubarak added. Now, things have turned heels over head and all matters grew much more complicated as the peace march in the Middle East would need to be totally revised, Mubarak was quoted by the national media.
"The grave impact of today's tragedy would affect not only the Middle East but also many parts of the world," he said, stressing that those who carried out the attack on Sheikh Yassin have certainly miscalculated. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
