Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz received in Riyadh today President of Egypt Muhammad Hosni Mubarak and his accompanying delegation. The meeting was attended on the Saudi side by Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, and a number of ministers and senior officials; and on the Egyptian side, by Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Information Minister Safwat Al-Sharif, among others. During the meeting, they discussed international developments, notably the issues of Palestine and Iraq, as well as aspects of cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

In a joint statement issued today, the leaders of the two countries stressed that Arab countries are progressing in development, modernization and reform in accordance with the interests of the people, while maintaining their values, characteristics and Arab identity, and rejecting the imposition from abroad of any reformist pattern. The communiqué noted that concern to achieve stability in the Middle East necessitates finding a just and fair solution to the issues of Arab and Islamic countries, most notably for Palestine and for Iraq. The two sides were in agreement on a joint stance on reform of the Arab condition, to be submitted to the next meeting of foreign ministers of the League of Arab States scheduled for Cairo, Egypt.
On the issue of the Middle East peace process, the leaders urged political discussions on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks towards a comprehensive settlement, reaffirmed the need to activate the Arab peace initiative adopted by the 2002 Beirut Summit, and stressed the importance of the Palestinian government shouldering its responsibilities.
On Iraq, the communiqué reasserted the territorial integrity of that country, respect for its sovereignty and independence, and commitment to the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs; stressed the right of the Iraqi people to political self-determination; urged enhancement of the role of the United Nations during the transitional period; and welcomed the decisions recently issued in Kuwait by Iraq's neighboring countries.

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