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Egypt, Syria Agree Clashes Jeopardize Mideast Peace Process
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Sunday warned against the danger caused by the Palestinian-Israeli clashes to the stalled Mideast peace process, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said.
Topping the agenda of the discussions between Mubarak and Assad was the serious situation in Jerusalem and the negative atmosphere caused by the visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the holy city on Thursday by Israeli right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon, Moussa said.
Assad arrived in Cairo earlier in the day on his first visit abroad since he succeeded his late father, Hafez al-Assad, to the presidency in July.
The two leaders focused on the bloody clashes in the Palestinian areas and expressed concern that the serious situation would result in negative impact on the peace process, which is already in a precarious state, Moussa told reporters after the summit.
Sharon's visit sparked four days of Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli security forces, which have claimed the lives of some 30 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others. Mubarak and Assad also discussed the Mideast peace process on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks, Moussa added.
While the Palestinian-Israeli talks have made little progress since the Camp David summit in United States failed in July, mainly over the status of Jerusalem, Syria's negotiations with Israel have been suspended since January.
The sticking point is the future of the Golan Heights Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
Syria demands that Israel withdraw completely from the strategic plateau, back to the control line prior to the June 4, 1967, war, which would allow Damascus access to the Sea of Galilee, the major water source of Israel.
Israel has expressed willingness to return the Golan, but wants to withdraw only to a 1923 border, which would give it the Sea of Galilee in its entirety.
Mubarak and Assad also discussed inter-Arab ties, including relations with Iraq, which has enjoyed growing support from Syria, Egypt and other Arab countries for an end to the 10-year-old U.N. sanctions, Moussa said.
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
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