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World Jewish News
Mubarak: W. Bank ban only hurdle to clear in Schalit talks
17.08.2009
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Jewish leaders in Washington on Monday evening and had some positive news about prisoner swap negotiations to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
According to Channel 10, the Egyptian leader, on his first visit to Washington in five years, said that prisoner swap talks had reached the same point they had got to with former prime minister Ehud Olmert. Mubarak said that his impression was that a deal could be concluded with Hamas once the contentious issue of banning Palestinian prisoners from returning to the West Bank is solved.
Israel is opposed to allowing certain prisoners from the West Bank to return to the territory after they are released in a possible swap deal for security reasons.
In the meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel, Mubarak also reportedly reiterated his opposition to an attack on Iran.
According to Army Radio, the Egyptian leader said that cracks had started to appear in the Iranian regime and an attack would only unite Iranians behind the leadership.
Also according to the report, Mubarak expressed optimism regarding the Middle East peace process, praising Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who he said wanted to make peace, and calling on him and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet.
Earlier Monday, Mubarak was quoted as saying that Arab states would recognize Israel and normalize ties with the Jewish state after a just and comprehensive Middle East peace is achieved, but not before.
In an interview with the state-controlled daily Al-Ahram and cited by Reuters, Mubarak, in Washington for talks with top US officials, said the Arab experience with stalled peace talks in the wake of the 1991 Madrid peace conference "did not encourage" taking steps toward normalization with Israel.
Last month, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell called on Arab states to take "meaningful steps towards normalization of relations with Israel."
"I affirmed to [US] President [Barack] Obama in Cairo that the Arab initiative offers recognition of Israel and normalization with it after, and not before, achieving a just and comprehensive peace," Mubarak told the paper.
"I told him that some Arab states which had mutual trade representation offices with Israel could consider reopening those offices if Israel commits to stopping settlement [expansion] and resumes final status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority where they left off with [former prime minister Ehud] Olmert's government," Mubarak added.
Asked about possible Egyptian participation in an extended US "defense umbrella" referred to in July by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a response to a nuclear Iran, Mubarak said Egypt would not be part of it as it would not allow foreign troops or experts on its land.
Earlier, The New York Times reported that Mubarak was expected to tell Obama and other US officials that Arab countries would not make confidence-building gestures towards Israel before the latter takes certain steps, such as a freeze in settlement construction.
Mubarak's visit to Washington this week is his first in half a decade. He is scheduled to meet with Vice President Joe Biden on Monday, and will meet Obama on Tuesday.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said that Egypt believes the best way to build confidence is to halt building in settlements, take steps to improve the West Bank economy, ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip and agree to negotiate on all issues - including Palestinian refugees and east Jerusalem.
"If they do this and engage immediately in negotiations with Abbas, this is a recipe for openness and the Arabs will make the gestures needed," Zaki said. "But they don't want to make this first step. They are demanding the Arabs make the first step. The Arabs should not make the first step. They (Israel) are the occupying power. The occupation must end."
Zaki said the Egyptian position was unshakable. "We think this huge gap of confidence requires movement from the Israelis first. Then the Arabs are willing to make gestures. This is the way Arabs see it," he said.
The spokesman said that Mubarak would also discuss with Obama such issues as the Iranian nuclear program, Muslim extremism and developments in Sudan.
Mubarak has a meeting scheduled with Jewish leaders Monday, where he is slated to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the Iranian threat.
The Obama administration has already indicated it is seeking to reinvigorate the relationship with Egypt, as Obama chose Cairo as the destination for his long-anticipated address to the Arab world in June and met with Mubarak there.
Moreover the Egyptians have been eager to take advantage of a new face in the White House to reengage with Washington, indicating that they have turned over a new page.
Al-Ahram reported this week that "a press statement issued this week by the Foreign Ministry squarely blamed the tensions that have marred recent relations between Cairo and Washington on the policies of the Bush administration. Egyptian officials now hope that the worst is over, and bilateral ties can be placed on a new footing."
The US is also eager to count Egypt as an ally in shaping its Middle East agenda, as it has a peace treaty with Israel and shares strategic concerns about the role of Iran and its proxies.
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT. Hilary Leila Krieger contributed to this report.
Источник: JPost.com
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