ALEXANDRIA: President Hosni Mubarak met a string of foreign dignitaries and diplomats on Tuesday in a bid to avert what he called “another lost opportunity at a US-sponsored Mideast peace conference in November.
The veteran head of state met Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair in the northern city of Alexandria to lay the groundwork for the meeting.
The talks were part of a diplomatic flurry which also saw King Abdullah meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday and will see EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Cairo later on Tuesday for talks with Arab League chief Amr Moussa.
On Wednesday Arab League foreign ministers will also discuss the upcoming conference in Cairo.
“The meetings are aimed at ensuring there is good planning for the conference, Mubarak’s spokesman Suleiman Awad told journalists in Alexandria.
During the talks, Mubarak called “for a clear agenda and framework, Awad said, warning that the meeting “should not be a lost opportunity added to the list of previous lost opportunities.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Abdel Ilah Al-Khatib that “there must be a clear understanding of what this meeting is about… There is a small window of opportunity in which we have a lot to achieve.
“There is a need for progress between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of the meeting to decide on broad principles, and the details can be discussed at the meeting, he said.
The Palestinians are pushing for a deal on “core issues – the thorniest problems dogging the conflict such as Jerusalem, borders and refugees – ahead of the conference with a view to implementing an agreement then.
Israel has previously ruled out discussing key issues before the conference, saying that both camps should instead create a basis for a deal.
Egypt and Jordan also stressed the need for Palestinian national reconciliation after the Palestinian territories were effectively split in two following Hamas’s seizure of the Gaza Strip on June 15.
“National reconciliation is absolutely necessary for the Palestinians because nobody wants two Palestinian states, D’Alema told reporters.
“Everybody agrees unity of the Palestinians is needed. The alternative is a long civil war for the Palestinians.
Blair did not speak to the press, but Egypt’s official news agency Mena said he discussed with Mubarak “ways of energizing efforts aimed at re-launching the peace process.
The former British premier met Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in Jeddah on Monday and was due to head to Israel after Egypt.
In July, during his maiden visit to the region as envoy of the Quartet – the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States – Blair said he saw a “moment of opportunity in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
US President George W. Bush has called for a Middle East peace conference to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian talks which is probably going to be held in November. Agence France-Presse
