Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said that Egypt remains committed to an Israeli settlement freeze, asserting that Egypt did not change its position as claimed by some media reports.

Asked about Egypt 's stance on Israel 's complete freeze of settlement building before re-launching regional peace negotiations, Abul-Gheit said that there are major difficulties facing the peace process on various tracks, adding that the US wanted a complete halt to Israeli settlement activities, as a prerequisite to re-launching negotiations.

Abul-Gheit went on to say that the US administration also said that it would be asking the Arab countries to enhance their relations with Israel in return for a complete halt of settlement building.The US rejects Israeli settlement activities on Palestinian territories. "The Egyptian vision is that we have to concentrate on the end game and we must not waste time adhering to this issue or that as a start for the negotiations," Abul-Gheit said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell said that Israel has rejected US calls for a complete freeze on settlement activity, Abul-Gheit said, asserting that "We have ruled out resuming negotiations without the immediate freeze of Israel 's settlement activities." Egypt wants American international assurances that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are held on the basis of a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, he said. The US administration remains committed to a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians, Abul-Gheit said.