Solana: Mideast peace vital for Arab reforms

[Gimel]

By Reuters



CAIRO - A EU envoy said on Wednesday it would be hard to achieve reform in the Arab world without progress on Middle East peace, contradicting the U.S. view that the two processes can proceed independently.

"The peace process always has to be at the center of whatever initiative is in the field," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana when asked about U.S. proposals to implement democratic reforms in Arab states.

"Any idea about (reform of) nations would have to be in parallel with putting a priority on the resolution of the peace process, otherwise it will be very difficult to have success," said Solana, speaking after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

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