Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed at a meeting with the Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, his deep concern over the failure of parties involved to implement recommendations by the US-led Mitchell commission, according to the daily Al Ahram.
The commission, led by former US senator George Mitchell, calls for a cooling-off period, followed by confidence-building measures by both sides and then a return to negotiations.
The president said that all Arab countries shared him his concerns and reiterated the need for implementing Mitchell’s recommendations.
The Irish Foreign Minister told reporters that he had briefed the Egyptian president on the EU foreign ministers talks held recently in Belgium.
The minister, whose country will take over the rotating presidency of the EU foreign ministers forthcoming session next month, reiterated his country’s keenness on listening to Egypt’s views and assessment of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
He added that Mubarak had prompted the European Union to reactivate its role in order to find proper mechanisms to implement Mitchell’s report.
“After leaving Cairo, he said, he will encourage both the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to find a base for dialogue which should begin without any preconditions, as the case with the Irish peace process has been.
Cowen has also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and the situation in the Middle East – Albawaba.com
