Mubarak Holds Talks with US Envoy on Mideast SituationEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak Thursday met US Mideast envoy William Burns to discuss the current situation in the Middle East.The meeting was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and U.S. ambassador to Egypt Daniel Kurtzer, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. Burns said after the talks that contacts are under way between concerned parties, including the latest security meeting between the Israelis and Palestinians, aimed at finding a way to put the recommendations of the Mitchell report into effect. He urged both Palestinians and Israelis to "do their utmost" to reduce tensions and resume peace negotiations, adding that he will brief US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell of the outcome of his recent mission in the region. "I don't believe that a military solution is the means to end the violence and the two sides can have this problem resolved by such a way," said the U.S. envoy, adding that he is determined to make efforts to help tone down the violence and set a plan, by which the Mitchell report would be placed into action. Maher said that during the talks with Mubarak, Burns stressed that the Mitchell report is "a whole and indivisible package" that should be implemented "totally rather than selectively." The Egyptian minister said that the U.S. envoy's mission is to press the Palestinians and Israelis for reaching an agreement on a timetable to implement the Mitchell report. "It is important for Israel to take steps that would alleviate tension and show real intention to implement the report's recommendations, especially in halting settlements," Maher quoted Mubarak as saying. Burns, who arrived here earlier in the day, will head to Amman, Jordan, for further discussions before flying back to the United States. Burns carried out his shuttle diplomacy between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday and Monday, which primarily dealt with the resumption of security talks between the two sides. An international inquiry commission, led by former U.S. senator George Mitchell, was set up last October to probe the Palestinian- Israeli violence. More than 550 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed in clashes between the two sides over the past eight months. |
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