Mubarak Urges Settlement Freeze as Obama Opens Mideast Talks
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President Barack Obama faced an immediate challenge to the Middle East talks he opens today as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Palestinians insisted that Israel hold to its freeze on West Bank settlement building.
Settlements “will not create rights for Israel nor are they going to achieve peace or security for Israel,” Mubarak said before a working dinner of Middle East leaders late yesterday at the White House. “It is therefore a priority to completely freeze all these activities until the entire negotiating process comes to a successful end.”