Mubarak Calls on US to Play Active Role in MideastEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on the United States to take an active role in the Arab-Israeli peace process in a White House meeting with US President George W. Bush Monday.Speaking to reporters after meeting, Mubarak said: "I am very keen to work with him on all issues concerning the Middle East, especially the Middle East problem." "We are working very hard, and we are going to cooperate very hard in the direction of peace, because our main concern is peace and stability in the area of the Middle East," Mubarak said. On his part, Bush said the United States and Egypt "will work together to bring peace to the Middle East, and we will work together to try to convince all parties involved to lay down their arms, for there to be less violence." "I'm also committed to working with the president on relations, economic relations, that will be to the advantage of both our countries," Bush said. Bush told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month that the United States "will not try to force peace" in the Middle East. "Our administration will not try to force peace. We'll facilitate peace and ... we will work with those responsible for a peace," he said. Mubarak urged the United States not to step back from its peace- brokering role. "The United States cannot just take its hands off, " he said in an interview published in the Sunday's Washington Post. |
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