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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (photo: US State Dep.)
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| By Israel Insider staff June 21, 2007 |
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II to participate in a four-way summit to discuss methods of supporting Fatah in the West Bank and ways to deal with Hamas in Gaza.
The summit will be held in the Sinai resort, Sharm e-Sheikh, early next week.
According to Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo, "We want the summit to remove the (economic) siege and the checkpoints that suffocate the life of the Palestinian people," he said. "Abbas would also seek a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the PA."
Abed Rabbo warned that if the summit did not achieve real results, it could cause more harm than good.
Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat was likewise foreboding, warning that achieving Palestinian statehood and ending occupation was the only way to counteract Hamas.
"The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence," Erekat said. "We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people."
Construction and Housing Minister and member of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Meir Sheetrit, was not hopeful such results could be achieved.
"Unfortunately, historically, meetings at Sharm e-Sheikh [are not meaningful], and therefore I am very skeptical. I hope that this time will be different than in the past," Sheetrit told Army Radio.
"Egypt must really act to stop arms smuggling into Gaza. They can do that if they want to," he said. |
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