April 17, 2009

I just had a very good meeting with the Foreign Minister. I began by thanking him, personally, for all of the effort that he has made. I asked him to extend my thanks also to the President, to General Soleiman, and to all others in the Egyptian government who have been so valuable in our efforts to begin the process that will result in a comprehensive peace in the Middle East under the administration of President Obama. I assured him that the President, the Secretary of State and I, and all of the United States government, is fully committed to a comprehensive peace in the region, and we regard Egypt and the Egyptian government as essential to the effort in that regard. We do appreciate all that has occurred under Egypt’s leadership in several discussions over the past few months, and we encourage the government to continue in those efforts. I’ve just come from meetings in Ramallah with the Palestinian leadership, from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with meetings with the leadership of the government of Israel, and from several other countries in the region, and will continue now and go on to other countries in the Gulf. Our efforts will be maintained at a high level with the direct and personal engagement of the President and the Secretary of State because the United States regards it to be in our national interest to achieve the objective of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Thank you all very much, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.