"The recent Annapolis conference is a very important step towards resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on final-status issues," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said in statements during his stopover in London on his way back home from the US.

"The gathering showed the international community's keenness on solving the Arab-Israeli conflict in general and the Palestinian-Israeli one in particular,"
Egypt's top diplomat added.

The Annapolis conference, attended by 47 states and international organizations, has offered moral and political support to both the Palestinians and Israeli parties, nudging them to pursue efforts along the arduous road of resolving final-status issues, he pointed out.

But where did Egypt stand before Annapolis?

The Egyptian top diplomat said his country had a clear view based on final-status negotiations, which would tackle all six essential issues: al-Quds, the borders, the refugees, the settlements, water and security.

Another concern of Cairo's was that the well-known terms of references be kept intact, Abul-Gheit said.

Egypt, he said, has also stressed the importance of fixing a clear timetable to finalize the peace agreement.

Asked about how serious the US administration was, Abul-Gheit said he sensed a genuine desire to achieve real progress in the Palestinian-Israeli talks in an attempt to reach a solution before the end of 2008.

Asked about labelling Israel as a Jewish state, Abul-Gheit said that the issue has been exaggerated.

All people know that the Jews make up the sweeping majority of Israel's population, he said.It is up to Israel if it wants to describe itself as a Jewish state, he said.

But caution will be required if Israel wants the Palestinian, the Arabs and the international community to describe it as a Jewish state, Abul-Gheit said, adding that it was likewise fair enough to take into account the legal, humanitarian and political rights of the 1948 Arabs who continued to live inside Israel and now make up nearly 20 percent of its population.

Asked about the strong Arab participation at the Annapolis conference Abul-Gheit said that Egypt sought during its contacts with the American side ahead of the conference to secure the participation of all Arab countries, believing that this would reinforce the Palestinian position during the negotiations.

Abul-Gheit said that the Egyptian contacts bore fruit in having Syria and Lebanon take part in the conference because the Syrian and Lebanese tracks were fundamental in achieving comprehensive and permanent peace in the Middle East.

The Egyptian top diplomat said that the Arab side would deal wisely with the issue of normalizing ties with Israel as the issue forms the main philosophy of the Arab peace initiative which stipulates Israel's withdrawal from all occupied Arab lands and settling the Palestinian problem in order to normalize ties with Israel.

As France and the EU welcomed the results of Annapolis conference, commentators described the statement on the joint understanding between Israelis and Palestinians as mysterious. They said the statement spoke about general things and did not set any restrictions under which Israel should halt the establishment of settlements.

29/11/2007