Mubarak criticized Israel’s refusal to start negotiations

CAIRO, January 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday, January 23, that Israel was putting at risk the stability of the entire Middle East with its refusal to open peace talks with the Palestinians before a halt to violence.

“Israel’s refusal to embark on political negotiations before a total halt to violence threatens ... the peace and stability of the whole region,” he said in a speech at the opening of the Cairo Book Fair.

“Violence will not stop until the two sides return to the negotiating table and both sign on to commitments to boost the chances of achieving peace and stability,” said Mubarak.

He said Egypt had invited all Palestinian factions for a meeting in Cairo due to start later Thursday “to strengthen the chances of launching serious negotiations which could reduce the violence”.

The dialogue aims “to draw up a united Palestinian platform which could help launch a negotiating process leading to an accord between the two parties for a total halt to violence”, he said.

The Cairo talks are being held to discuss the future of the 28-month uprising which has cost almost 3,000 lives, most of them Palestinians, and left the West Bank almost completely reoccupied by Israel.

13 Palestinians Abducted

Meanwhile, the Israeli army raided the southern Gaza Strip sector of Khan Yunis and abducted a total of 13 Palestinians Thursday overnight, security sources on both sides said.

Israeli troops in Khan Yunis arrested two men accused of firing mortar bombs and home-made rockets on neighboring Jewish settlements and army positions, the sources said.

During the operation by a border guard commando unit, Palestinian militants fired shots and grenades at the Israeli forces, causing no injuries, the sources added.

Palestinian security sources had earlier reported that some 20 tanks backed by three bulldozers had moved into the autonomous sector of Khan Yunis, AFP said.

Another 11 Palestinians were abducted overnight, an army spokesman said, among them members of the hard-line Islamic group Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

According to military sources, 5,200 Palestinians are detained in Israeli camps or prisons.