Paris, (SANA) – The Union for the Mediterranean Summit kicked of on Sunday afternoon at the Grand Palais in Paris with the participation of President Bashar al-Assad and Presidents and Heads of State of 43 countries.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said time has come for the peoples of Europe and the Mediterranean to share responsibilities and take decision based on geography, history, common accord and recognition of the other's rights and duties in order to prepare conditions of prosperity, stability and peace.

He called for intensifying efforts to build a great future prevailed by peace, a future based on justice and development, saying "the European dream and the Mediterranean dream are correlated and can't be separated."

 "We can hold together a big coalition among Africa, Middle East and Europe to enable all people to reach water, food, energy, education and knowledge," President Sarkozy added.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, for his part, called for reaching a peace deal between the Palestinian authority and Israel and for the establishment of a Palestinian independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.  

Mazen