Mubarak, Arafat Discuss "Explosive" Arab-Israeli ConflictEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak Sunday discussed with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat the "explosive" situation in the Middle East due to Israeli expansions of settlements and assassination of Palestinians, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa.Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Moussa said that the Palestinians could not be held responsible for the violence in the occupied Palestinian territories in the light of Israeli aggressions. The minister said that Mubarak and Arafat discussed the " explosive" situation in the Arab-Israeli conflict and the provocative measures taken by Israel against unarmed Palestinians. The situation obviously "is extremely dangerous" as Israel resumed its settlement building policy, killed a number of Palestinian officials and tightened the economic blockade on the Palestinians, Moussa said. He warned that Israeli coercive measures against the Palestinians will bring about a violent reaction, adding that "this is normal" and the Palestinians should not be blamed. The Palestinians accused Israel of assassinating Iyyad Hardan, a military leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (holy war) movement, in the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday. Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry also on Thursday published new tenders for building 708 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. A total of 496 units will be built in Ma'aleh Adumim, a settlement bloc west of Jerusalem, and other 212 in Alfei Menasheh, a settlement near the West Bank city of Nablus. Arafat, who arrived in Cairo Saturday evening, is a frequent visitor to Egypt to discuss the Middle East peace process with Mubarak, who has been playing a key mediating role in resolving the more than half-century Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli violence triggered by Israeli violation of an Islamic holy shrine in East Jerusalem last September has claimed lives of more than 430 people, most of Palestinians, and wounded thousands of others. |
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