Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should forget about plans to hold a summit involving Saudi Arabia, because the Saudis won't meet him, said Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Although he attempted to sidestep the issue in an interview with Channel One, Mubarak implied that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah would not meet with Olmert because of religious issues – i.e., that Muslims of the stature of Abdullah would not meet with a Jew like Olmert.
"Forget about meeting with the king... The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has circumstances that differ from those of any other state. They have holy lands and men of religion," Mubarak said.
Olmert had called in April for a regional conference with Arab leaders, singling out King Abdullah, for talks on the Riyadh plan proposed by Saudi Arabia, in which Israel would withdraw from all of Judea and Samaria and agree to allow the descendants of Arabs who fled their homes after the establishment of Israel in 1948 to return to their parents' homes.
Only if Israel agreed to the Riyadh plan “as is,” with no adjustments, would Abdullah consider making an exception, Mubarak said.
Although he attempted to sidestep the issue in an interview with Channel One, Mubarak implied that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah would not meet with Olmert because of religious issues – i.e., that Muslims of the stature of Abdullah would not meet with a Jew like Olmert.
"Forget about meeting with the king... The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has circumstances that differ from those of any other state. They have holy lands and men of religion," Mubarak said.
Olmert had called in April for a regional conference with Arab leaders, singling out King Abdullah, for talks on the Riyadh plan proposed by Saudi Arabia, in which Israel would withdraw from all of Judea and Samaria and agree to allow the descendants of Arabs who fled their homes after the establishment of Israel in 1948 to return to their parents' homes.
Only if Israel agreed to the Riyadh plan “as is,” with no adjustments, would Abdullah consider making an exception, Mubarak said.