Mubarak Declines to Clarify His Reference to a National Entity, JTA, Feb. 4, 1982.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt declined to explain whether his reference to a “national entity” for the Palestinians during his remarks at the White House today was a call for a Palestinian state.

Asked if he had meant a Palestinian state, Mubarak, emerging from a 90-minute working lunch with Secretary of State Alexander Haig at the State Department this afternoon, said he had given his “conception” in his White House speech but refused to elaborate.

Mubarak and Haig told reporters that during their luncheon meeting they had discussed the entire gamut of issues — bilateral, regional and world-wide. Mubarak reaffirmed that the April 25 date for Israel’s withdrawal from Sinai is not a deadline for an agreement on autonomy. He said they would continue to “push” ahead with the autonomy talks.

Mubarak said the 62 Soviet technicians he invited to return to Egypt were coming only to adjust Soviet equipment placed there in the last three years and would not be in Egypt very long.