PRESIDENT MUBARAK: It is a pleasure to meet with the Secretary. I've already met her before when she was U.S. representative in the UN, and this time I meet her with another hat as the Secretary of State, and I've know her since she was in the UN. She was very active, efficient and played a very important role in the UN.

This time we had long talks, discussions about the peace process, and really, it is encouraging as the first visit for the Secretary of State. I followed all her statements since the National Press Club lecture which was supported by President Clinton after the speech was given, and everything in the statement which was delivered by the Secretary in Israel on her trip was encouraging, balanced and it gives hope for the peace process to move forward. I wish her success, and really, we need much more active work which she is insisting on. She succeeded in making three committees between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Israelis and the Americans, the Palestinians and the Americans so as to move forward. And we are intending to make much more cooperation so the process can move forward because all of us are concerned with stability in the area, peace to be achieved. This is the main goal for the United States which is playing the pivotal and the important role in this process.

I thank the Secretary again and wish her success. I honor all her statements. We are going to continue discussions and cooperation on this issue until we reach a comprehensive settlement, Inshaallah. Thank you.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you very much for your warm reception here. I must say that our breakfast this morning was one of the most beautiful and enjoyable that I have had and I am very grateful to you. It was also a pleasure to meet again with my good friend, the Foregin Minister. All of us had the opportunity to discuss the Middle East peace process and other issues related to the strategic partnership between Egypt and the United. On behalf of President Clinton and Vice President Gore, I want to begin by saying how much the United States respects the leadership provided by President Mubarak whose courage and vision have guided Egypt to a leading position both regionally and in world affairs.

Indeed, I have come to Egypt because I value President Mubarak's counsel and experience. For the United States, our relationship with Egypt has grown in importance and scope every year. Egypt is a vital force for moderation in a region where violent extremists have inflicted enormous suffering. Egypt is a leader of the Arab world with which the United States shares many interests and to which we look with great respect. Egypt is the biggest nation in Africa and is playing an increasingly large role not only in the north, but throughout the continent. The United States consults regularly with Egypt on responding to global threats from proliferation or to terrorism, and the United States considers Egypt a valuable partner in the quest for peace and stability, especially in the Middle East and Gulf.

During our meeting today, the President and I reviewed issues related to our shared interests, particularly in this region where we want to ensure that new security threats do not arise and that known threats are contained. I assured the President of America's resolve to work with Egypt and other friendly states to remain vigilant while also responding to opportunities for reducing tensions should such opportunities arise. President Mubarak shared with me his views which I will convey to President Clinton concerning developments throughout this part of the world. We spent a great deal of time, as you might imagine, discussing the crisis in confidence that has evolved in the effort to achieve a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace.

During our discussion I stressed the need for a renewed sense of partnership on both sides, for a joint commitment in the battle against terror, and a joint commitment to refrain from unilateral actions that undermine confidence and appear inconsistent with the obligations undertaken at Oslo. Having met this week with Israeli and Palestinian students, I was struck by the urgent need for leaders on both sides to respond to their yearning for peace. The people of the region are sick of bombs and suffering and constant disruptions to their daily lives. They're tired of the language of insult and recrimination. They understand that the extremists in each community offer nothing, nothing more than violence, division, suffering and sorrow. People on both sides want to see their leaders take the pragmatic steps necessary to get the peace process back on track to make possible for all a future of dignity, security and rising prosperity.

The United States cannot forget that without Egypt there would have been no peace process; without Egypt there would have been no Camp David Accord, no Madrid Conference, no Oslo process, and no handshake on the White House lawn. So we are very pleased to be working actively and in close consultation with President Mubarak and Foreign Minister Moussa to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to bring the peace process back to life. Both our governments believe that a permanent settlement must ensure real security for Israel and recognition of the legitimate political rights of the Palestinian people and that it should be based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, including the principle of land for peace.

We have agreed that our goal is a comprehensive peace and that we will do all we can to restore and sustain the momentum towards peace.

The relationship between the United States and Egypt is built on mutual interests elevated by common values and cemented by a joint commitment to peace, security and development. We are bound together as well by a rapidly increasing exchange of business people, students and tourists traveling back and forth between our two nations. As the United States prepares to begin its third full century of existence and Egypt roughly its 51st, we are heartened by the knowledge that our relationship strengthens each of us and that it contributes in numerous ways to the welfare of our own citizens and to the well-being of the world.

Mr. President, thank you again for your great hospitality and your counsel, and I look forward to continuing our partnership and to what I expect will be a future where we can shake many hands over peace processes.

PRESIDENT MUBARAK: Thank you very much,

QUESTION: President Mubarak, you've been warning time and again that stalemates in the peace process will lead to exploding the situation in the region, and Mr. President, your forecast proved to be very true. So in the light of your talks today with Secretary Albright, were there any attempts to diffuse the crises and create a climate of hope in a very frustrated region?

PRESIDENT MUBARAK: I agree on the words you have already mentioned, I have already said before. We should realize this is the first trip for the Secretary and what she has achieved was not expected from other people. But as a first trip, it's encouraging, it's giving hope to diffuse all this.

After the meetings which take place in Washington, I think the situation will be much easier to proceed forward. So such acts will lead to diffusing in the situation.

QUESTION: Egypt last year hosted the Middle East Economic Summit. Do you think in the current environment in the region today, we'll be able to hold a fourth Middle East Economic Summit as scheduled in Doha in November?

PRESIDENT MUBARAK: I hope that the situation could be improved. We still have some time. If there is progress in the process, I think this will help for the conference to be held on a higher level. We are trying hard with this. We are waiting and we are cooperating with the United States to achieve progress. And I think that the Secretary is insisting on making progress in the peace process so that the conference can convene.

QUESTION: A question to Secretary Albright. Before going to meet with Netanyahu you outlined back in Washington with the press people the resumption of security cooperation in return for Israel fulfilling its obligation. Even the CIA representative confirmed that the Palestinians have already fulfilled their demands. Is it fair or even logical, then, to still blame Palestinians and not just that, but not even to be able to pressure or to condemn Israel? Thank you.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Let me say that while I was in Israel I made very clear that for the peace process to go forward that there had to be the fulfillment of mutual responsibilities, that the Oslo process is one that is based on mutual recognition, mutual respect, and the fulfillment of responsibilities. We believe that it is very important that terror not dominate the scene in Israel. It is very hard for the people of Israel or the leadership to negotiate in the presence of bombers, and we do believe that it is very important for Chairman Arafat to do everything that he can, 100% effort, in order to dismantle the Hamas infrastructure and to work to the best of his efforts to control the terrorist activities, because the terrorists are the enemies of the peace process which means that they are the enemies not only of the Israeli people, but of the Palestinian people. But as I said in Israel, we hope very much that there will not be unilateral acts by either side which preempt final status issues, and that it will be possible and important to create the kind of environment that will allow the peace process to go forward. That environment is based, if I might repeat, on fulfilling mutual obligations and responsibilities.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, if I could follow up the question? If the situation in the peace process does not improve, if the small steps that you've described do not lead to the hard decisions that you say are necessary, would it be a prudent thing to consider postponing the Doha conference?

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think that we have to understand that the Doha conference is important in itself. It is in the interests of the region to be part of the global economy, and I think it is important to understand, Steve, that the Doha conference is not a favor to anyone in particular. It is a favor to the people of the region because it is the people of the region that can gain from the economic benefits of breaking down barriers and attracting investments. So I would hope that the Doha conference would be seen as valuable in its own right for what it does for the people of the region.

QUESTION: President Mubarak, you spoke of your encouragement with the results of Secretary Albright's trip. I was wondering if you could tell us specifically what about the trip was encouraging to you? If you could give us a bit of elaboration.

PRESIDENT MUBARAK: I think, Mr. Hunt, you have been on the trip with the Secretary of State, you have heard all her statements in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv. All these statements we consider very encouraging, and everybody has the impression that there is hope for the process to move forward. But specifically, I think you know all the statements delivered by the Secretary of State since the National Press Club speech as I already mentioned.

QUESTION: But Mr. President, since Secretary Albright left Jerusalem, Yasser Arafat went on Israeli television with an impassioned and very angry statement about the Israeli response. Israeli officials have been quoted very negatively. Even the Palestinian children whom she met with were very upset in comments to the New York Times after she left. Aren't these really only small steps that were accomplished as she has said, and isn't it really a very bleak outlook for any kind of breakthrough in this region?

PRESIDENT MUBARAK: I think that the Palestinians are in a very difficult situation now, and because the peace process is in a most difficult situation, they were very upset. They were expecting that in the first visit of the Secretary they could have great hopes. This was not true. We didn't expect great hopes, but we expected that the gate would be opened for much more active work. We appreciated what she did, and the Palestinians will realize this in the future.

Thank you very much.