Mubarak to Press Bush on Palestinian Statehood
He said he was even prepared to follow in the footsteps of Anwar el-Sadat and travel to Israel, but not while killing continued and only if it would help clinch a deal. Otherwise, he said, "I am going to be insulted from here to here," gesturing from head to toes with his hand.

"I think to declare a state just theoretically like this and then to sit and negotiate what would be the borders, what about Jerusalem — I think it may work," Mr. Mubarak said. On the other hand, declaring a state on a fraction of the Palestinian lands seized by Israel in 1967 would only perpetuate tensions and lead to more "terror and violence," he said.

Speaking in English on Sunday at the presidential palace, which was ringed by tight security in a city flowering under the summer red of acacia trees, Mr. Mubarak said his proposals would be far more detailed than those outlined by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

That proposal was adopted by nations attending an Arab summit meeting in Beirut in March; it called for Israel to withdraw from all lands seized in the 1967 war in exchange for full normalization of relations with all Arab nations.

His proposal differs from others in that it would confer statehood on all Palestinian lands recognized by the United Nations before — not after — many difficult issues of exact boundaries, refugees, the division of Jerusalem and the dismantling of Israeli settlements are addressed.

The Egyptian president suggested that the proposal would give the Palestinians hope of achieving a state, a hope he indicated had recently been dashed by the actions of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel.

"This may be one of the proposals which will lead the two parties to sit and negotiate," he said. "Our intention is to lower the tension, and any idea which lessens the tension and violence, I support it, but it should be on a fair basis."

"To leave the problem of the Middle East to Arafat and Sharon alone, you will get nowhere," he said. "It should be a heavyweight country like the United States that should try to interfere, try to listen to this and that and in the end make the two parties make a conclusion."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/international/middleeast/04EGYP.html?pagewanted=all&position=top