Mideast - AFP
Mubarak seeks greater international involvement in Middle East crises
Date: Sun, Apr 25, 2004
CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) called for greater international involvement to legitimise the occupation of Iraq (news - web sites) and find a just settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a televised speech marking the 25th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai desert, Mubarak blasted the US-led occupation of Iraq as illegal and called for the United Nations (news - web sites) to play a larger role there.
"We will continue to support with all our might the new orientation of the Iraqi people and the international community aimed at giving an increased role to the UN (in Iraq)," he said.
The president said UN involvement would create the "legal framework necessary to better contribute to the return of stability and safety" in the country, which was going through a "drama without precedent in its history".
The US-led occupation is "unjustified and without legal foundation" and coalition forces in Iraq are incapable of ensuring security or "territorial integrity" for the Iraqi people, he said.
Mubarak also said the international community, especially the so-called quartet of the European Union (news - web sites), Russia, the United Nations and the United States, should spell out the steps required for the creation of a Palestinian state.
This meant setting clear dates for "reciprocal engagements" between the Israelis and the Palestinians at each stage of the implementation of the stalled peace roadmap.
He said it was important not to prejudice any questions which were central to the resolution of the conflict, notably the right of return of the Palestinian refugees of 1948 and the issue of Jerusalem.
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