Mideast "peace process"

From Haaretz, 31/7/06 by Amos Harel and Eli Ashkenazi...

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose Arab country was the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel, warned Monday that the entire Middle East peace process could collapse because of Israel's fighting in Lebanon.".... Mubarak is under domestic fire from opposition groups for his refusal to revoke Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

...Mubarak said Monday he had told Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to increase Egypt's diplomatic endeavors to defuse the crisis. Aboul Gheit flew to Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with its leaders, a day after discussing the war with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. Aboul Gheit advised Assad that Syria should not voice opposition in the event an international force is sent to southern Lebanon to police the border region, diplomats in Cairo told the AP."Egypt is trying to convince Assad not to stand in the way of a diplomatic solution," said one diplomat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Arab diplomats and media say Egypt and Saudi Arabia - two regional heavyweights - are working on a diplomatic initiative to entice Syria to end its support for Hezbollah, a move seen as crucial to resolving the conflict in Lebanon. Aboul Gheit acknowledged that Syria opposes the dispatch of any new international force....

On Monday, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Egypt was brokering a deal between the United States and Syria under which Damascus would cut its support for Hezbollah in return for a softened U.S. attitude toward Syria....The report in Al Siyassah said Aboul Gheit carried assurances from the Bush administration to Assad that his regime would not be militarily targeted if he ended his alliance with Iran, Hezbollah's main backer.....

....In Damascus, Assad vowed Monday to continue support to the "Palestinian and Lebanese resistance more than ever."Syria's official news agency, SANA, also quoted him as saying that the situation in the Middle East especially in Palestine and Lebanon "requires cautious and preparedness and readiness." ....

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is a main backer of Hizbollah, said he would meet his French counterpart on Monday in Beirut. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, also visiting Beirut, said earlier on Monday ...."In the region there is of course a country such as Iran - a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region...."

.....The French foreign minister repeated his country's call for an immediate cease-fire, saying the military situation was at an "impasse" so a political solution was needed.....