Arab, Muslim condemnation of Israeli aggression on Aqsa Mosque

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques receives message from Mubarak, Egyptian president sends message to Jordan monarch

Arab contacts to world countries demanding an end to Israeli aggression, warn of consequences

Goldstone report considering delay triggers commotion, Abbas urges investigation

Rabat denies Moroccan foreign minister met with Israel’s Lieberman

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received a message from Egyptian president Mohammad Hosni Mubarak.

The message was delivered to the king by Egypt's foreign minister Ahmad Abul-Gheit and chief of General Intelligence Omar Suleiman during an audience.

The meeting was attended by Prince Miqrin bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the king and Egyptian ambassador to the kingdom Mahmood Mohammad A'oof.

Meanwhile, President Mubarak, during his speech on the 36th anniversary of the October 6, 1973 Victory, said on Tuesday 05/10/2009 that peace is the genuine guarantee of the security and stability of the region. He added that there is no time for equivocation or evading peace terms of reference.

"In Egypt, we are exerting our utmost effort for establishing a comprehensive peace. Our goal is to end the file of the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict for ever through ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, ending the ordeal of the Palestinian people and liberating occupied Syrian and Lebanese lands," Mubarak said.

The region is suffering from many crises and there are even more that are likely to unfold, Mubarak warned.

"The regional situation is not good, so there is no longer any time for procrastinations and maneuvering and ignoring the core issues and the terms of reference of the peace process."

"We have to go ahead on the hard road of peace, embracing a vision that responds to the aspirations of the people. However, we cannot do so without having leaders who have the political will to take brave decisions," the president said.

"The road to peace with Israel is open" and it has been so ever since the October victory that ended years of defeat and occupation and that restored to Egypt its dignity and honor, Mubarak said.

He added peace that Egypt has gained after years of war with Israel is a peace that is protected by the nation's might and that has enabled Egypt to restore every inch of the Sinai Peninsula and direct its resources to its development efforts.

The Egyptian peace experiment has proved over the past three decades or so that realizing peace in the Middle East region is not an impossible or a far-fetched dream, the president said.

The Egyptian-Israeli peace deal is a good example that can be followed on all the other regional peace tracks, the president said.

"The Middle East peace process is passing through a critical juncture. The region cannot stand any new failure or any more wasting of available chances in the way that happened many times before."

Egypt will continue to hope and will maintain its relentless efforts with the parties concerned to seek all-out, just and honorable peace that could put the Middle East region on a new path and open a new chapter for its nations and peoples where they can get a chance to live in peace, security and stability.

October War will stand in the annals of history as a symbol of the greatness of this country, and will continue to embody people's determination to defend their national dignity, Mubarak said.

The memory of this victory will always remain a standing proof of the greatness and courage of our Armed Forces and the noble sacrifices of its heroes. This time in history saw how the people stood by the side of their army and how immense their contributions to serve the nation were during the long years of the War of Attrition that followed the defeat in 1967 and during the liberation war in 1973, he said.

"The sacrifices have been plenty but we have been well repaid by the restoration of our lands and of our nation's pride and dignity."

"Today during the anniversary of this great victory we send greetings to that great generation that showed the world the true mettle of this nation and offered a most honorable example to the coming generations," he said.

"We greet the military men on their day of victory and pay homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their country and to late president Anwar Sadat who led his nation to victory and opened the road for peace," President Mubarak said.

"I witnessed the struggle of our people during the years of war and the ensuing years of peace. I fought in the war and took part in the peace march from day one. I took the helm during a very difficult stage of our life and under tough circumstances."

"Together we had a fierce encounter with the evil forces of terrorism and extremism and together we made numerous achievements that changed the face of life in this country."

"Today after 36 years from the October war and victory, we are still vigilant, standing in defense of the security of this nation and the safety and national unity of its people and our utmost goal will always be to realize more economic growth and more development to change life to the better for the coming generations, Mubarak said.

"We will remain forever committed to serving the best interests of the nation," he said. "Our number one priority will always be to improve the present and future of the ordinary citizen, to spread the values of citizenship and social justice, to back the causes of justice and equality.

In Amman, King Abdullah II of Jordan received Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, who conveyed a message the Jordanian monarch from President Mubarak pertaining to the current situation in the region and efforts exerted to achieve progress on peace as well as recent developments regarding endeavors to achieve reach Palestinian reconciliation.

The two Egyptian officials, according to a press release, have reviewed during the meeting Egypt’s efforts to overcome Palestinian differences and achieve national reconciliation among all Palestinian factions.

The Jordanian monarch expressed full support for the Egyptian efforts and appreciated Egypt’s role to end Palestinian split.

Rival Palestinian factions are to sign a reconciliation deal in Cairo on October 26, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said on Monday after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in Amman.

"We agreed to hold a meeting for Palestinian factions in Cairo on October 25 before signing a reconciliation agreement on October 26," he told a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh.

The announcement came shortly after Abul-Geit and Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman held talks with Abbas, who heads the mainstream Fatah faction. According to extracts of proposals obtained by AFP, the plan calls for both presidential and parliamentary elections to be held across the Palestinian territories in the middle of 2010.

It also calls for bolstering the Fatah-dominated security forces under Egyptian supervision and the release of prisoners in both the Fatah-run West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Egypt has twice postponed the scheduled date for the signing of a reconciliation agreement because of continuing disagreements between the two main Palestinian factions.

Earlier, Abul-Geit and Suleiman, who is Cairo's pointman on efforts to unite the rival factions, met with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who said Palestinian reconciliation was a "key necessity" to establishing an independent state.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza on Sunday slammed as "reckless and irresponsible" the decision by the UN Human Rights Council to postpone consideration of a damning report into the Gaza war.

Ismail Haniya blamed the Palestinian Authority for the decision to delay a vote on the report by the former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

The report accused both Israel and Palestinian resistance of committing war crimes during the three-week conflict at the turn of the year.

The report reserved its harshest criticism for Israel. Goldstone had recommended sending the report to the UN Security Council and to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, if Israel and Palestinians fail to conduct independent investigations as called for by the report.

"The decision taken by Ramallah to withdraw the Goldstone report was reckless and irresponsible," Haniya said, referring to the West Bank government of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

He added that the decision "trades in the blood of the children of Gaza."

"Abbas gave the orders to delay voting on the report," Haniya told reporters.

"How can the two parties (Fatah and Hamas) sit at one table and sign an agreement in this situation? ... This has placed a heavy obstacle in the way of Palestinian unity," he said. Hamas has led a chorus of criticism of the decision taken on Friday in the UN Human Rights Council.

On Monday in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah, hundreds of people protested against the decision, waving placards saying the delay "insults the blood of the martyrs and wounds our people".

Another sign read "Delaying the vote on the Goldstone report frees the hand of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu in Jerusalem."

In Jerusalem Palestinian activists protested against the decision at a news conference in front of two homes that were occupied by Israeli settlers over the summer. "(The decision) was a knife in the backs and in the hearts of all the martyrs," said Jamal al-Jumaa from the Popular Campaign to End the Wall, an organization that opposes Israel's controversial separation fence.

Muhammad Jadallah, the head of the Coalition for Jerusalem, demanded an apology from Abbas.

"We want president Abbas to apologize for what happened, and if the government had anything to do with the decision we want it to resign," he said.

On Saturday, 16 Palestinian human rights groups slammed the delay, saying in a joint statement that it "denies the Palestinian people's right to an effective judicial remedy and the equal protection of the law."

"It represents the triumph of politics over human rights. It is an insult to all victims and a rejection of their rights," the groups said.

The decision was widely seen as the result of intense pressure from Washington which, along with Israel, had criticized the report.

"Abu Mazen (Abbas) was himself responsible for this decision," a senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said.

"He was under pressure from many states, especially the United States and Britain," the official added on condition of anonymity.

The decision drew criticism from within the ranks of Abbas's Fatah party.

Also on Saturday, the Palestinian economy minister Bassem Khuri, an independent, resigned in protest of the decision taken on the report, according to a senior official.

Israel had threatened not take steps towards peace if Goldstone Gaza report passes to UN Security Council.

"The adoption of what is called the Goldstone report would deal a fatal blow to the peace process," hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Israel will not be able to take further steps and further risks towards peace if the report is adopted," Netanyahu said.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned that the Palestinian Authority's support for the report could hamper future negotiations on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"They were the ones that instigated the report and that are calling for measures. We would expect them to cease this altogether, not just because there is no basis for it but also because this is the most unfriendly act if we want to deal together on the most difficult issues," Ayalon told reporters.

"Any action taken on this report would have a detrimental effect on the peace process, if not deal it a fatal blow... The Palestinians cannot try to talk peace and attack us at the same time," he said.

Some 1,400 Palestinians -- mainly civilians, including hundreds of children -- were killed by Israel during the war, which came to an end on January 18 when both sides declared unilateral ceasefires.

The United States, which recently joined the 47-member Council after remaining on the sidelines for years, had opposed endorsement of the report.

In its decision on Friday, which was endorsed by several Arab and Muslim states which had previously expressed support for the report, the 49-member UN council postponed the vote to March next year.

A Syrian foreign ministry official expressed "surprise" at the PA decision, and accused it of obstructing "Arab, Muslim and international efforts that rallied to take the necessary steps to implement the report's recommendations."

In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Moussa told reporters he was "disturbed" by the delay, and added in veiled criticism of the PA that "there was no consultation" with the league before it agreed to support the delay.

An Arab League diplomat said the Palestinian Authority of making "concessions for free to Israel without getting anything in return."

In Lebanon, Hezbollah said in a statement that the vote delay was "a response to an American demand, with the complicity of some Arabs."

Abbas reacted to the criticism by forming a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the delay, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Moroccan foreign ministry dismissed reports that a secret meeting was held between Minister al-Taieb al-Fassi al-Fihri and his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.

“No secret meeting was held between the two foreign ministers as claimed by the Israeli mass media,” the spokesman said in statements.