EGYPT: Spain's foreign minister meets with his Egyptian counterpart to discuss the Middle East situation

Record ID: 588965

  • Title: EGYPT: Spain's foreign minister meets with his Egyptian counterpart to discuss the Middle East situation
  • Date: 12th September 2006
  • Summary: (W4) CAIRO, EGYPT (SEPTEMBER 10, 2006) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, CAIRO SECURITY OUTSIDE OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK AND SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS POSING FOR PICTURES PRESS EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK AND SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AHMED ABOUL GHEIT (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS, SAYING: "Well I personally back, you know, the initiative of the Arab League, I think it's a good idea. It's always good to go to the Security Council when, you know, the situation and the questions that are so important for peace and security and the stability in the world have to be addressed. So we discuss with the European Union -- in general we are in favour. We are in close contact with the Arab League. I will have a meeting with Secretary General Amr Moussa tonight, we will discuss, we will ask for some clarifications, but in principle we will back this initiative." WIDE SHOT OF PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AHMED ABOUL GHEIT, SAYING: "The peace process does suffer, not only from intentions, but also from the lack of an ultimate goal. Therefore the focus of this issue [the peace process] by everybody should be on how to envisage the so-called endgame or the end of the road, namely the Palestinian state, if agreement is ever to be hammered out on such a state, including its borders and framework. Therefore we can ultimately achieve that goal through negotiations, however this is still missing in the road map and everybody is urged to add this missing part." SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIALS (SOUNDBITE)(English) SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS, SAYING: "Well on the Lebanese side, you know, we have consulted on the issue of the prisoners - the Israeli soldiers and the Lebanese prisoners. We have to solve the issue of the Shebaa farms. We have to really engage politically with all the Lebanese forces to really consolidate the Lebanese government, and we should, you know, [be] for all these efforts to stabilize Lebanon." SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS EXITING PRESS CONFERENCE EXTERIOR OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, CAIRO
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3S1T5SAVXZM9UZI0H6BL8YQ60
  • Story Text: Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos gave his country and the European Union's qualified support to an Arab League initiative on Sunday (September 10) that would restart the Middle East peace process with a new focus on the final borders of a Palestinian state.
    Moratinos made the comments while visiting Egypt, where he met with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
    At a press conference with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Moratinos said the Arab League's plan to take the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict to the United Nations Security Council was promising.
    "Well I personally back, you know, the initiative of the Arab League, I think it's a good idea," he said. "It's always good to go to the Security Council when, you know, the situation and the questions that are so important for peace and security and the stability in the world have to be addressed. So we discuss with the European Union -- in general we are in favour. We are in close contact with the Arab League. I will have a meeting with Secretary General Amr Moussa tonight, we will discuss, we will ask for some clarifications, but in principle we will back this initiative," he added.
    Earlier on Sunday (September 10) Mubarak flew to Jordan where he and Jordan's leader, King Abdullah urged the international community to work for a speedy resumption of Middle East peace talks.
    Egypt proposed a Middle East peace plan based on fixing in advance the borders and other details of a Palestinian state and then setting up negotiations to turn the concept into a reality on the ground.
    The approach is a radical departure from the one which has dominated Middle East diplomacy for most of the past 15 years, which was based on persuading Israelis and Palestinians to build confidence gradually through small steps.
    Egypt and Jordan have coordinated their efforts on this initiative.
    Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit gave details of the new initiative at the news conference.
    "The peace process does suffer, not only from intentions, but also from the lack of an ultimate goal," he said. "Therefore the focus of this issue [the peace process] by everybody should be on how to envisage the so-called endgame or the end of the road, namely the Palestinian state, if agreement is ever to be hammered out on such a state, including its borders and framework. Therefore we can ultimately achieve that goal through negotiations, however this is still missing in the road map and everybody is urged to add this missing part," added Aboul Gheit.
    Officials said that during talks in Amman President Mubarak and King Abdullah agreed that an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict could only come about by a comprehensive settlement based on past U.N. resolutions as well as on the basis of land for peace.
    Moratinos confirmed that Spanish troops had left Spain on their way to southern Lebanon. The Spanish government has agreed to contribute 900 troops to the UN mandated peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon that is a key element in cementing the ceasefire that ended Israel's one month war with Lebanon that ended August 14.
    Moratinos said that his government supported a comprehensive effort to resolve the numerous unresolved issues in the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
    "Well on the Lebanese side, you know, we have consult on the issue of the prisoners - the Israeli soldiers and the Lebanese prisoners," he said. "We have to solve the issue of the Shebaa farms. We have to really engage politically with all the Lebanese forces to really consolidate the Lebanese government, and we should, you know, [be] for all these efforts to stabilize Lebanon."
    The Lebanese government has demanded the release of several prisoners held by Israeli in return for talks on the two captured Israelis.
    Israel occupies a piece of territory in southern Lebanon called the Shebaa farms, which the United Nations says belongs to Syria, but which the Lebanese government claims as its own.
    U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said Israel should complete its withdrawal from south Lebanon once 5,000 U.N. troops were on the ground.
    A French force which arrived on Saturday (September 9), between 200 and 300 logisticians and engineers, brought the total U.N. force to around 3,350. The U.N. force could reach 5,000 once the rest of the 700-strong French battalion arrive next week, and the expected Spanish contingent troops reach Lebanon, according to statements by Annan.
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