Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak highlighted on Tuesday the importance of sending observers to the Palestinian territories as the situation in the region is becoming "more and more tense."
Mubarak’s remarks came at the end of a visit to Italy where he held talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi following a meeting with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, said Al Ahram daily.
The meetings came after Berlusconi hosted a Group of Eight (G8) summit in Genoa last week that backed sending observers to monitor the Middle East peace process, a move seen as largely symbolic, as Israel remains opposed to their deployment.
“The Italian officials realize how dangerous the situation is in the Palestinian lands,” said Mubarak, adding that “sending observers, regardless of their nationality, should be done very quickly because of the deteriorating situation there.”
Israel is opposed to the deployment of international teams to monitor progress on the implementation of the Mitchell report recommendations. However, it has conceded that more CIA agents from the United States, a traditional ally of Israel, could be sent.
The CIA helped broker a ceasefire on June 13 and its personnel have been monitoring the truce since then.
Berlusconi shares Mubarak's concern about developments in the Middle East and told the Egyptian leader that Rome was ready to exert its influence on the parties to the conflict to show clear signs of goodwill that violence will stop and resume dialogue, Berlusconi's office said in a statement, cited by AFP.
Berlusconi met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon earlier this month and received a letter from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on the peace process.
The Italian premier pledged to help expand trade ties between the two countries and boost Italian investment in Egypt.
Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero attended the talks between Mubarak and his Italian hosts.
The Egyptian embassy said Mubarak would pay a private visit to Germany after his snap visit to Rome. He last visited Germany during a European tour in April.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was also expected in Rome Tuesday to discuss the Middle East crisis and other issues, after meeting his French counterpart Hubert Vedrine in France.
Maher said on Tuesday that sending only US nationals to the Middle East to monitor the application of the Mitchell report would not be a problem, said reports.
"The nationality of the observers is not a great problem, even if they are all of the same nationality, and if they are only American. What is important is that they arrive on the ground and observe," Maher told journalists after meeting French President Jacques Chirac in Paris.
Maher, who was making his first visit to France since being named minister, said he had given Chirac a message from Mubarak concerning what he said were dangerous developments in the region.
He said he and Chirac had discussed ways to end the violence that followed the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, last September.
Maher said they had talked about using the implementation of the Mitchell report as a roadmap towards final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, based on the principles of land for peace.
Chirac's spokeswoman said the president had agreed that "demanding 100 percent results in the fight against terrorists attacks would, in reality, play into the hands of extremists," said AFP – Albawaba.com
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