The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Abu Musa said today he was pessimistic about the future of the Middle East peace process because of Israel's settlement policies in the Palestinian territories.

He told reporters that he had been cautiously optimistic after the signing of the recent agreement, but he felt that if the present Israeli policy on building more settlements continued, the who process would be reduced to nothing.

Mr Musa said that settlement meant colonialism and seizure of land on the West Bank, the Golan Heights and other occupied territories where Israel had no right to build.