(18 Aug 2009)
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
1. Mid of US President Barack Obama seated beside Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
2. Cutaway of media
3. SOUNDBITE (English): Barack Obama, US President:
"There has been movement in the right direction. And, I came in from the start saying that all parties concerned had to take some concrete steps to restart serious negotiations to resolve what has been a long-standing conflict that is not good for the Israeli people and is not good for its neighbours. And, I think that the Israeli government has taken discussions with us very seriously."
4. Mid of Mubarak
5. SOUNDBITE (English): Barack Obama, US President:
"My hope is that we are going to see not just movement from the Israelis but also from the Palestinians around issues of incitement and security, from Arab states that show their willingness to engage Israel. If all sides are willing to move off of the rut that we're in currently, then I think there is an extraordinary opportunity to make real progress but we're not there yet. I'm encouraged by some of the things that I'm seeing on the ground."
6. Reverse of leaders with media
7. Mid of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and US Vice President Joe Biden seated, listening
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President:
"We are trying and working on this goal, to bring the two parties to sit together and to get something from the Israeli party and to get something from the Palestinian party. If we, perhaps, can get them to sit together, we will help. And, also, I have contacts with the Israeli party. I have received, of course, some contacts with the Prime Minister of Israel, with the head of the state, and also with the Minister of Defence. We are speaking in a good manner and we are moving in the right direction. But the two parties need to sit together. And this, then, will give hope that there is a possibility of finding a solution to the Palestinian issue. Because it has been ongoing for 60 years, and with this issue ongoing, we lose a lot. And also, this will increase violence. So we support the efforts of the United States to move toward finding a solution."
9. Cutaway close-up of Obama listening to Mubarak
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President:
"We even discussed the issue of reform inside Egypt, and I told President Obama very frankly and very friendly, that I have entered into the elections based on a platform that included reforms, and therefore we have started to implement some of it, and we still have two more years to implement it."
11. Wide of leaders with media
STORYLINE
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was encouraged by progress in US efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, and he thanked his Egyptian counterpart for help in working for a breakthrough.
Obama made the remarks after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office.
He was responding to a question about reports that Israel had stopped granting permission for new settlements in the West Bank, even though projects in progress were continuing.
Obama has demanded that the Israeli government freeze construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, land that the Palestinians want for a state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public refusal has opened a rare rift between the two traditionally close allies.
Despite that rift, Obama chose to remain positive on Tuesday saying that there was "movement in the right direction."
Underscoring Obama's remarks, Mubarak said they were "moving in the right direction."
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