Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he remains committed to Arab-Israeli peace despite the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories and ruled out going to war with Israel again.
"There's no other solution. Peace is our goal and we must work to attain it. I don't think about war," Mubarak said in an interview with state radio published in newspapers Wednesday.
The Egyptian leader told the radio that peace was a "complicated thing, and a difficult process for both" the Israelis and Palestinians.
"But I cannot abandon it, because peace promises great stability in the region," said Mubarak.
Mubarak recalled his ambassador from Tel Aviv on November 21 in protest at Israel's "escalating aggression" against the Palestinians, but Foreign Minister Amr Mussa said the same day that Egypt remained committed to peace.
"Those who call for war don't understand what it means," Mubarak said, recalling that more than 200,000 Egyptians were killed in wars with Israel. "No one goes to war unless it is absolutely necessary."
Egypt last fought the Jewish state in war in 1973, and six years later signed peace with Israel.
"The Egyptian economy has long suffered the consequences of war. Now we are beginning to rebuild and improve our living conditions," Mubarak said -- CAIRO (AFP)
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