| Pay attention here - there's a lot being said. |
Egypt said Sunday it was against mixing religion with politics with regard to Israel's insistence to call itself a Jewish state, because that would further complicate steps at bringing a finality to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad -- answering reporters'questions on the heels of a cabinet meeting today presided by president Hosni Mubarak -- said that Mubarak in his recent meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Sharm El-Sheik broached the sensitive topic of the right of return of the so-called 1948 Palestinians.
| Bibi: No. Let us move on to the next sensitive topic. |
To a question about Hizbollah's allegation that some Arab states strive to influence the outcome of the upcoming Lebanese elections -- in a reference to news that Hizbollah has a cell in Egypt -- Awad said this issue was in the hands of the Egyptian law, emphasizing that Egypt gives its blessings to the elections and wishes peace and stability to that country.
| He said that overall Iran played a constructive role in bringing peace and stability to the Mideast region, a fact Egypt could not extend to Israel. |
| That first bit is certainly a diplomatic statement, in the saying, "Nice doggie," while reaching for a rock sense. It may even in the long run turn out to be true, although in that case not in ways Iran intended. The second bit is rude. |
About Israeli demands that the Iranian nuclear file be treated as top priority on the agenda of policies at the US administration, thus marginalizing the importance of the Mideast conflict, Awad said his country championed the right of any country to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
| Didn't El Baradai once work on Egypt's nuclear 'development' project? Tom Leherer sang about it in the early 1960s. ("Who's Next") |
However he added that Mubarak, in his meeting with Netanyahu, affirmed that Egypt was against Iran's tendencies to expand its influence in the region through supporting certain well-known militia groups.
Awad expressed hope that talks between Iran and the group of 5+1 over the nuclear issue result in a positive outcome, wishing that the Mideast region be free of the spread of nuclear weapons, whether the source of that be Iran or Isreal or anyone else.
On Israel's attempts to see itself in the same foxhole with Arabs regarding the potential nuclear threat from Iran, Awad said Egypt did not subscribe to such a scenario and that Egypt's differences with Israel were not of the same caliber as with Iran.
He said that overall Iran played a constructive role in bringing peace and stability to the Mideast region, a fact Egypt could not extend to Israel.
| Thank you, President Obama. |
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