Egypt Will Support Palestinians Forever: MubarakEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak said November 12 that Egypt will support the Palestinians as it has done before until they regain their legitimate rights.Mubarak made the pledge after attending an opening ceremony for a new publishing house in Cairo. He said that the situation in the Palestinian territories is very complicated, adding that Egypt is concerned over it on a daily basis, the official Middle East News Agency reported. The Egyptian leader said that the summit, held at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh last month, was a response to the worsening situation in the Palestinian territories. "It was in the interest of the Palestinians," he said of the summit. During the summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agreed to condemn violence, and take measures to stop the bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. The clashes have so far killed over 200 people, mostly Palestinians, and wounded thousands more. Mubarak stayed away conspicuously from the ninth summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which opened in the Qatari capital Doha. Egyptian officials explained that the president's absence is due to domestic parliamentary elections. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami also urged the Islamic summit to take immediate decision on "unequivocal condemnation of the systematic crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians," as well as comprehensive political, economic and international sanctions against Israel, which includes immediate breakup of diplomatic ties. At present, only three Arab states -- Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania -- are maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel. |
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