Hosni Mubarak Invites Israeli PM to Egypt
Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 4:40 pm
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday confirmed an invitation to Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come to Egypt, but without his firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
“The Israeli prime minister might come to see us in May,” Mubarak said, confirming Israeli statements that Netanyahu had been invited to visit the Jewish state’s most important Arab ally “in the next few weeks.”
“Some say… that he will bring his foreign minister with him,” Mubarak said during a speech to mark the end of Israel’s 15-year occupation of the Sinai peninsula in 1982
“The Israeli prime minister is coming alone. His cabinet chief will come with him. He will not bring any other minister with him,” Mubarak said.
Israel’s foreign ministry said that firebrand nationalist Lieberman, who last year said that Mubarak could “go to hell” if he continued to refuse to visit Israel, had been invited to visit Egypt.
The invitations were made during a visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Relations between Egypt and Israel have deteriorated since Lieberman was named foreign minister, with Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit pointedly saying he would not shake his hand.
Egypt, which signed a landmark peace deal with Israel in 1979, has an uneasy relationship with Lieberman, whose hardline stance has raised concerns about the fate of peacemaking with the Palestinians.
|
|
|
From World:
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Todays news from World News
- Greek Parliament Approves Austerity Measures Amid Clashes
- PM Yousuf Raza Gilani Charged With Contempt
- Gujarat Riots: High Court Slams Narendra Modi Govt For Failing
- Syria’s Homs Suffers ‘Heaviest’ Shelling
- Gilani Files Appeal In Contempt Case
Advertisement
Email Subscription
Advertisement
