Egypt FM: This Is Not The Year For Peace Deal Between Israelis And Palestinians

May 16, 2008 6:14 a.m. EST

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in published remarks that this is not the year for a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. His comments came as President Bush celebrates Israel's 60th anniversary in the Jewish state

Egyptians welcomed their FM's comments, gathering in central Cairo to commemorate the anniversary of the "nakba" or catastrophe.

Many of the demonstrators flew Palestinian flags in a sign of support. Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 under the auspices of then American President Jimmy Carter at Camp David.

"The Palestinian scenario is becoming more complicated every day despite seven months passing since the Annapolis conference," Abul Gheit said was quoted as saying in the state-owned Al Ahram daily newspaper.

The minister was referring to an attempt by President George W. Bush to jump start Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that had taken a 7-year hiatus.

"There are no real signs of any breakthrough that would allow reaching a final peace deal before the end of the year," Abul Gheit said.

The Egyptian demonstrators who gathered around the Journalists' Syndicate carried banners that read "the liberation of Palestine is a sacred duty" and celebrated "60 years of resistance" against the Jewish state.