Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, meeting in Alexandria with Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, called Sunday on a prompt and fair solution for Jerusalem at the Camp David summit, officials said.
The two leaders talked of making Tuesday's summit "succeed on the basis of reaching a fair solution, taking into account all the issues with no exception, especially the issue of Jerusalem," Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said.
Earlier, Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation, Nabil Shaath said urged the Egyptian government to stand fully behind his delegation at the Camp David summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Shaath repeated remarks he gave in Cairo Thursday that the Palestinians would push at Tuesday's summit for a return to the pre-1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state.
"Egyptian support for the Palestinian delegation is very important before the start of the summit," Shaath told reporters.
"The relationship between Egyptians and Palestinians is a strategic relationship and it will continue in war and peace, in all situations," said Shaath.
Arafat "depends on the reality of Egyptian support which (we) consider a very important part of our strategy," he added.
The Palestinians will insist Israel withdraw to the 5th of June 1967 border, the boundary before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and that Jerusalem should return as the capital of the Palestinians, Shaath said despite Barak's refusal to negotiate on these points.
Israel should also scrap Jewish settlements within those boundaries and give Palestinians made homeless during that war the right to return home, he added.
"We will insist on these issues," Shaath said.
Egypt tries to help bridge gaps between the Palestinians and Israelis, a role recognized by the United States.
But Egypt also sees itself as a counterweight to US support for Israel by backing the Palestinians on many of their demands, and will warn them against succumbing to US pressure at the summit, sources at the Egyptian presidency said - ALEXANDRIA (AFP)
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