U.S. President George W. Bush continues to come down hard on Yasser Arafat. After phoning Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday in an effort to convince him to support American policies in the Middle East, Bush told reporters,
\"When the ship [the Palestinian Authority\'s Karin-A] showed up with weapons obviously aimed at terrorizing that part of the world, I expressed my severe disappointment, because I was led to believe that he [Arafat] was willing to join us in the fight against terror. I took him for his word at Oslo [as well]. And so I made this very clear to my friend Hosni Mubarak, that ridding the Middle East of terror is going to make it more likely that there would be peace and stability in the region.\"
Egypt has reportedly begun a new initiative to bring about a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer will meet in Cairo tomorrow with Mubarak, and Minister Tzippy Livni has also been invited to the Nile country. She will meet with Mubarak\'s top advisor Osama el-Baz on Thursday.
Last week, Mubarak had some sharp words for Prime Minister Sharon, accusing him for their lack of a working relationship and blaming him for future possible regional instability. Sharon sent him a letter afterwards in which he wrote, \"It would be better to solve our disagreements in discreet channels, and not in a shrill manner via the media…\" Mubarak is reportedly not happy with Arafat, either; Israeli diplomatic sources said that Mubarak has not answered phone calls from Arafat, and that he views the Karin-A matter \"with gravity.\"
\"When the ship [the Palestinian Authority\'s Karin-A] showed up with weapons obviously aimed at terrorizing that part of the world, I expressed my severe disappointment, because I was led to believe that he [Arafat] was willing to join us in the fight against terror. I took him for his word at Oslo [as well]. And so I made this very clear to my friend Hosni Mubarak, that ridding the Middle East of terror is going to make it more likely that there would be peace and stability in the region.\"
Egypt has reportedly begun a new initiative to bring about a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer will meet in Cairo tomorrow with Mubarak, and Minister Tzippy Livni has also been invited to the Nile country. She will meet with Mubarak\'s top advisor Osama el-Baz on Thursday.
Last week, Mubarak had some sharp words for Prime Minister Sharon, accusing him for their lack of a working relationship and blaming him for future possible regional instability. Sharon sent him a letter afterwards in which he wrote, \"It would be better to solve our disagreements in discreet channels, and not in a shrill manner via the media…\" Mubarak is reportedly not happy with Arafat, either; Israeli diplomatic sources said that Mubarak has not answered phone calls from Arafat, and that he views the Karin-A matter \"with gravity.\"