Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Syrian peer Bashar al-Assad demanded a "quick" resumption of UN arms inspections in Iraq, with the hopes of heading off a US-led invasion to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The two leaders "stressed the need to strengthen the international opposition to a strike on Iraq so that the people of the region can avoid a disaster," said a joint statement published at the end of Assad's three-hour visit in Egypt.
The heads of state urged a "quick resumption of the inspections carried out under the mandate of the UN Security Council" to verify that Iraq no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction, the statement said.
Mubarak and Assad urged the UN Security Council to "exhaust all means" to avoid a US attack on Iraq.
Meanwhile, Mubarak and Assad also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two presidents called on the UN Security Council "to force Israel to implement (international) resolutions and withdraw from the land it has occupied" in the West Bank.
An Israeli pullout would "halt the deterioration and restore the climate needed for peace talks to resume on all tracks," they said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
