Egypt says Israel settlement activity undercuts Annapolis achievements
In meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak strongly criticizes Israel for continued construction in east Jerusalem, says it damages peace process. Barak: Building is not part of the problem with Palestinians
Egypt criticized Israel's renewed efforts to build settlements around Jerusalem, calling them damaging to the peace process, in talks between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday.
Mubarak echoed Palestinian demands that Israel cancel a project to build 307 homes in Har Homa neighborhood announced earlier this month, describing it as damaging to the peace talks, according to presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad.
"This settlement activity will hijack the only outcome of the Annapolis conference, which was the re-launching of peace negotiations," he told reporters following the meeting.
Barak and Mubarak in Sharm (Photo: reuters)
"The failure of two rounds of negotiations between the Israeli and the Palestinian sides this month is due to the Israeli settlement activity," he said. Awwad added that the meeting also concerned bilateral relations and the state of their shared border - a particularly sensitive issue in light of Israeli accusations that Egypt is not doing enough to stop weapons smuggling.
Barak: Building not point of contention
In a press conference afterward, Barak maintained that the building project was not a point of contention with the Palestinians since it was taking place in Jerusalem, rather than in the West Bank where the had promised to freeze new construction.
"In our view, this is not part of the problem with the Palestinians, we are building in the neighborhoods inside Jerusalem, we are not building new settlements," he said. "The Palestinians are far from implementing phase one of the road map, which calls for rooting out the terror infrastructure," he added.
Barak also met with Omar Suleiman, the chief of Egyptian intelligence and Egypt's point man for dealing with the Palestinians.
Israeli army radio reported after the talks that Suleiman promised Egypt would do everything in its power to halt the smuggling of weapons across its border into Gaza - a sore point between the two countries.
