Mubarak-Arafat-Barak Summit Ends

The hour-long three-way summit among Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, visiting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak concluded Sharm El Sheikh Thursday.

Mubarak said in a press conference, flanked by smiling Arafat and Barak, "the talks, which has held in a friendly atmosphere, have brought fresh hopes to the Middle East peace process".

In a brief statement to more than 200 reporters, Mubarak said that the talks also help solve the problems facing the Middle East peace process.

He declined to elaborate the achievements of the talks, but said they will be reflected in the future developments.

He said the three leaders also touched on the Syrian-Israeli and Lebanese-Israeli tracks during their talks, saying they all hope that the difficulties will be overcome in a short time that would lead to the resumption of talks between Syria and Israel soon.

Mubarak said that the aim of the talks is not only to solve some problems in the peace process, but also to seek for a durable solution which will secure the stability and economic development in this region.

After Mubarak's statement, the three leaders left the conference without answering a single question from journalists, with explanation by Mubarak that they had no time.

Then Mubarak invited Arafat and Barak to a banquet after which the visiting leaders will leave for home.

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