Israel has nothing to fear from an international peace conference, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said here Friday.
Speaking at the end of a two-day working visit to Belgium and the European Community, the Egyptian leader stressed that such an international conference “would not impose a settlement to any party.”
Rather, he said, “it would just be an umbrella, a guarantee to be followed by direct discussions between the parties and would lead to the main settlement.”
Mubarak’s main order of business was a discussion of Egypt’s staggering foreign debt, which amounts to some $44 billion. Mubarak discussed economic problems with Jacques Delors, president of the European Commission.
It was the first visit to the European Commission headquarters here by an Egyptian head of state.
When asked at a news conference about the Middle East, Mubarak said the European Community, which supports the peace conference concept, could use its excellent relations with Israel and the superpowers to play an important role in the peace process.
Mubarak also pointed out that during his discussions here, he had not urged the 12-nation community to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization. He called the PLO issue a “minor thing” that would be solved by an international conference.
Mubarak also met here with Belgium’s Prime Minister Wilfried Martens. The Egyptian president left Brussels Saturday for The Hague, where he is attending an environmental conference.
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