Christians Under Attack

TERRORISM In comments carried by Al Jazeera, Mubarak told reporters, "The aid is used by the man-in-the-street to buy medicine and to send his children to school. If this money is cut, terrorism will grow and all the people will suffer."

The Egyptian leader made the plea following a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Heinz Fischer in Vienna on Monday.

"Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people and Israel must recognize that it can form a new government," Mubarak said. "The renunciation of Hamas of violence and its recognition of preceding engagements [in peace talks] is for a second stage," he argued.

All of the major political parties in the current Israeli election campaign have pledged not to hold talks with a Hamas-led PA government, although Labor has signaled a willingness to enter negotiations, without saying with whom.

EU foreign ministers decided at a meeting in the Austrian city of Salzberg last Friday that aid to the PA could be cut unless Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts past agreements signed by the PA.

Austria currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

With a resurgent Islamic opposition and militant cells thought to be active in the Sinai, Egypt is keen to avoid the further destabilization of the Gaza Strip with which it shares a common border.