'Shared Arab vision is needed'
2005-07-28 10:21
Shibin El Kom - President Hosni Mubarak called on Thursday for an Arab leaders summit next week in Sharm el-Sheik, which was targeted over the weekend in Egypt's deadliest ever terror attack.
"I call for an extraordinary Arab summit and I suggest it be held in Sharm el-Sheik on Wednesday," said Mubarak told several hundred supporters in Shibin el Kom, capital of the Nile Delta province of Menoufia, north of Cairo.
The Arab world was witnessing "worrisome developments from the situation on the Palestinian arena to the situation in Iraq to many other challenges", Mubarak said in a nationally televised speech, adding there was "a need to formulate a shared Arab vision".
Some body parts not yet identified
Mubarak, who as president since 1981 has long battle extremist groups in Egypt, did not say why he wanted the summit held in Sharm, but it was apparently chosen in a sign of resolve by the government in the face of Saturday's pre-dawn attacks in the Red Sea resort.
"We're at a time when we need to hold an urgent Arab summit so that we can have a common ground," he said in an apparent reference to a co-ordinated approach to combat terrorism.
Hospital officials said 88 people were killed in the three bombings; the Egyptian health ministry said 64 people died, but an unspecified number of body parts have not been identified.
Mubarak is expected to announce his intention to stand in September 7 elections, according to state-owned newspapers.
- AP