Osama Al Baz -- a top adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in Washington Thursday that the United States is best placed to help stop the conflict, urging Washington to take another look at proposals to deploy truce monitors.
Baz said it was time for US action on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza, not just through diplomatic contacts.
He said if the United States did not take a more assertive role, it risked undermining its interests in the Middle East by making room for extremism, according to Reuters.
According to AFP, the top Egyptian official insisted that "more aggressive" US action -- possibly deployment of truce observers in the region -- was needed to "revive confidence in the peace process."
US President Bush has taken a largely hands-off approach towards the region, insisting as recently as this week that there is precious little he can do until the two sides decide on their own to halt some 11 months of clashes.
"The argument that the situation can be left to the parties themselves has failed, because it has led to a disaster" said Baz, who has been Mubarak's national security advisor for two decades. "The spiral of violence is getting out of hand."
"We need a group of observers that will be able to monitor the situation on the ground," said al-Baz, who was set to meet on Friday with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security advisor Condoleezza Rice – Albawaba.com
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