Press encounter upon arrival at the Airport (unofficial transcript)

SG: Once again I am very happy to be back in Egypt, a country that is playing an important role in this region, and in the United Nations and to be able to exchange ideas with the President. I have been in very close touch with him and the Foreign Minister on this issue and apart from the role that the President has played in this crisis, you also would recall that he hosted the Sharm el Sheikh meeting last Fall.

I hope that the encouraging news that we have, that is that both parties have accepted the Mitchell plan, both parties have accepted the ceasefire, which is a very important first step. However, for the ceasefire to hold, in the longer term, we need to embed it in the peace process. And I hope during my visit here I will be able to encourage the parties to move in that direction. And I should also say that there has been lots of international players in the region. There is a real international alliance for peace working on this issue - the Americans, the European Union, the Russian Federation, the Arab leaders and the United Nations, are all agreed that we should push for full implementation of the Mitchell plan. There has been too much suffering in this region, too much suffering for Palestinians and Israelis who have lost many loved ones for us not to try to end this tragedy. We should do whatever we can to bring this tragedy to an end. I hope my visit to this region will help move the process in the right direction.

Q: Mr. Annan, you said that you can see a window of opportunity here. So how big or how small is this window?

SG: I think we have a fleeting moment, a fleeting opportunity which we must seize and seize promptly, and I hope the parties see it this way, otherwise we may lose an opportunity.

Q: And what do you personally hope to do with your personal involvement now, at this crucial stage of talks? What do you hope to achieve?

SG: I think I have indicated that I am working with a group of leaders and an international team. All of us are pushing for implementation of the Mitchell plan - agreement of the parties to move forward with specific commitments to implement the recommendations of the Mitchell plan.

Q: What are the prospects of holding a quadrilateral summit like the Sharm el Sheikh summit?

SG: I think it is too early to talk about a large conference in Sharm el Sheikh or elsewhere. It is not excluded for the future, but I think it is premature to talk about it.

Q: Did you have talks with the Saudi leaders?

SG: Not yet.

Q: Are you going to address the rights of the Palestinians civilians which are being violated, even after the declaration of the ceasefire? So far, these people cannot move from one place to the other, they cannot go to the university, they cannot attend their classes, they cannot get their food supplies every day. Are you going to address civilian rights?

SG: That is part of the issues and it also forms part of the confidence building measures which are part of the Mitchell recommendations that we are pushing to see implemented. And my man on the ground [Terje Roed Larsen] is working on it. *****