U.S. President Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will continue discussions on Saturday about ending violence in the Middle East after a private dinner at the Camp David presidential retreat.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian leader said Mideast violence would likely continue until a US-backed plan is in place leading to Palestinian statehood.
"Believe me, the violence will not stop ... it will not happen," Mubarak told the daily in an interview at Blair House. "You are dealing with human beings who cannot work, whose homes are destroyed. What do you expect them to do? ... The only way to stop this is to give hope to the people," he said in an interview with The Washington Post.
Mubarak met Secretary of State Colin Powell at the Blair House residence. He was to spend Friday night and Saturday with Bush at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
If talks are to continue, Mubarak said, "there should be some flexibility on the Israeli side," including withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. Only the United States, he said, is enough of a "heavyweight" to ensure that conditions are in place to create the Palestinian state Bush has said he supports.
"(Egypt's) role, and the role mainly of the United States as the key player, is to help the two parties to resume negotiations and solve their problems ... to put an end to violence," Mubarak commented. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
