Egyptian FM Denies Planning to Meet Arafat on Friday

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 12, 2002

Egyptian FM Denies Planning to Meet Arafat on Friday

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Thursday denied planning to meet the besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Friday.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Thursday denied planning to meet the besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Friday.

"I will meet with Arafat in appropriate time ... Israel could not prevent me from meeting him," Maher told Egyptian reporters, quoted by the official MENA news agency.

Maher's remarks came in response to a report carried by the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon had prevented the Egyptian foreign minister from meeting with Arafat.

"I advise you not to read such reports," Maher said.

Maher also said that it is not up to Israel to decide on the issue of sending international observers to the Palestinian territories.

"We found that the United States and Europe insist on the importance of dispatching the observers," he said.

Maher said that Israel can not obliterate the Palestinians or their rights, adding that it is important to get into "serious negotiations to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East."

He said that the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation is aimed at regaining the Palestinians' rights by all possible means, therefore, it would not stop.

The situation in the Palestinian lands has swiftly worsened since Israeli tanks rolled into Ramallah and shelled Arafat's compound on March 29.

Arafat has been besieged by the Israeli army in his office building in Ramallah since then.

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