Mubarak wants to bring Sharon, Arafat together at Sharm el-Sheikh

Mubarak to Sharon: "I have no problem with you. There's no problem with Egypt and Israel."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has asked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to discuss the Middle East crisis -- on the condition that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat could also be invited.

The meeting wouldn't be to end the crisis, Mubarak said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "but to give the impression to both parties, to the people on both sides, to the people in the Arab world that there is a window of hope that we have to work with."

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Mubarak said he hopes the meeting would allow Sharon and Arafat to discuss points and make the atmosphere between both sides better.

Mubarak said he "had a long talk with (Sharon) on the telephone. ... I told him that 'I would like to sit with you bilaterally.' I told him, 'I have no problem with you. There's no problem with Egypt and Israel. The main problem is the Palestinian problem and the one that is going on.'"

During that conversation, Mubarak said, Sharon asked him to set up a secret meeting between Sharon and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who last month floated his own peace initiative in the Middle East.

"I sent the message to Crown Prince Abdullah," Mubarak said.

Asked about the Crown Prince's response, the Egyptian leader replied: "I just said to him that Sharon said so and so. But I don't think that Crown Prince Abdullah, the country with the Holy Places, will be able to meet with Sharon unless there's peace."

Mubarak, who meets with President Bush at the White House on Tuesday, said he hoped a Sharon-Arafat meeting at Sharm el-Sheik could lead to resumed peace negotiations at lower levels.

Egyptian officials tell CNN that Sharon's response to the proposed summit was non-committal.

Mubarak will formally make his proposal when he meets with Bush; he said he hoped the Bush Administration would step in promote the idea.