Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres, returning from a one-day visit to Cairo, said last night that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt assured him he intended to carry on the peace process with Israel initiated by the late President Anwar Sadat. He also said that Mubarak made it clear that he does not want to see Jerusalem divided.
Peres, who headed a Labor Party delegation to the Egyptian capital, said, “Mubarak assured us, in the clearest possible manner, that he continued Sadat’s policy of working for an undivided Jerusalem, though the various ethnic groups in Jerusalem should be allowed to give expression to their own interests.” He said the delegation was also given assurances that the peace process would be broadened after Israel completes its withdrawal from Sinai next April.
Peres came under attack today from Geula Cohen, a leader of the ultra-nationalist Tehiya party which opposes the peace treaty with Egypt and is demanding that Israel abandon its commitment to withdraw from Sinai. Cohen accused the Labor Party leader of “misleading the public.” She claimed that “As everybody knows, both Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak really wanted and still want to divide sovereignty in Jerusalem.”
Peres and his delegation loid a wreath on Sadat’s grave and paid a condolence visit to the late President’s widow, Jihan Sadat. The delegation consisted of Labor MKs Mordechai Gur, Haim Zadok, Shoshana Arbelli-Almoslino and Hamr Khallili. Peres, as leader of the opposition, had asked to be included in the official Israeli delegation to Sadat’s funeral on October 10 but was turned down by Premier Menachem Begin.
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