CAIRO, 28 April 2005 — Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to host in Moscow an international conference on peace in the Middle East this fall during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak. The Two leaders also called on the United Nations to play a greater role in Iraq.
“I am suggesting that we should convene a conference for all these countries concerned (with the Mideast peace process) and the quartet, next autumn,” Putin told reporters at a joint press conference with Mubarak. The quartet includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
The Russian president did not give more details on which countries will be invited and did not say at what level he was proposing the conference, adding that he still needed to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Putin is expected to hold meetings with top Israeli officials today during his first visit to Israel.
Putin told the conference that ministers of the quartet will meet in Moscow on May 8 to discuss the Middle East peace process.
Putin’s visit is the first by a Russian or Soviet leader to Egypt in 40 years. Former Russian President Nikita Khrushchev visited Cairo in 1964.
Raaouf Saad, Egyptian ambassador in Moscow, said economic ties between the two countries are growing rapidly. “For instance, in 2004, Egyptian exports to Russia increased by 50 percent, while the volume of Russian exports entering Egypt increased by 100 percent,” said Saad. “Overall the trade turnover doubled to reach $834 million and the number of Russian tourists in Egypt reached 700,000,” he told Arab News.
President Mubarak said at the conference he does not expect an early end to the insurgency in Iraq. “As far as Iraq goes, there is still no end to the violence in sight,” Mubarak said. “Iraq differs from every other country because it is composed of different groups — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. And every group is bent on making its voice the loudest.”
At the end of the meeting, Putin told reporters that his visit was designed to increase Russian influence in the Middle East which has been on the wane since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. “We must start direct communications with Arab countries, starting with Egypt,” Putin said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian security forces arrested yesterday 75 activists before and during attempts to stage pro-reform demonstrations. Kifaya (Enough) movement which supported the protests said security forces beat up some of the activists who tried to hold a protest before the Journalists’ Syndicate headquarters.
Kifaya was organizing today 13 simultaneous demonstrations across the country. “These arrests will not stop us and we will continue our public invitation to people to join us in our fight for reforms,” said Abdel Halim Qandil, a leader of Kifaya and editor of the Nasserist weekly Al-Arabi. “We will not stop until we have reforms in the country,” he said.
