Mubarak to Peres: Israel must stop building settlements (2nd Roundup)

Nov 22, 2009, 13:25 GMT

Cairo - Israeli President Shimon Peres met Sunday in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart Hosny Mubarak who said that the peace process in the region required the Jewish state to cease settlement construction in the West Bank.

'We need first to stop settlements in the occupied territories including east Jerusalem,' Mubarak said at a joint press conference with Peres, after a closed-door meeting between the two leaders.

Mubarak said talks between Israel and the Palestinians should pick up where they last left off so that an agreement could be reached 'that ends the Palestinians' suffering' and allows them to establish a state based on the borders of 1967.

Peres said his country was seeking a solution that would satisfy both sides to the decades-old conflict. He called the settlements a 'marginal issue,' alleging that once Israel and the Palestinians restarted negotiations again, the building in the West Bank would stop.

'Unfortunately, it's a marginal issue, it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons. My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement,' Peres said.

Israel's settlements in the West Bank are seen by many in the international community and Arab world as violations of international law.

B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said Sunday some 490,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured after the 1967 Middle East war.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down after the war in the Gaza Strip last December and January, with the leadership in Ramallah saying they will not restart talks until settlements expansion is halted.

The trip by the Israeli leader to the most populous Arab state was expected to last only several hours, and came a day after Mubarak lashed out at Israel, saying it was blocking the Middle East peace process.

'Israel is destroying the opportunity for peace,' Mubarak told parliament on Saturday.

'I call on the leaders of Israel - stop your actions in the West Bank and remove the blockade of the (Gaza) Strip. Enough with your stubbornness and manipulations - accept the calls for peace.'

Egypt became the first Arab country to develop full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1979, though ties between the neighbours have been tense at times.