Amr Moussa, the leading candidate in Egypt’s presidential race, called the Camp David peace accords “dead and buried.”

Moussa said April 29 during a rally in southern Egypt that the document belongs “on the shelves of history,” the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

He differentiated, however, between the accords and the peace treaty that was signed in 1979, a year after Camp David. The Camp David accords called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as a goal.

“This agreement is dead and buried. There is an agreement between Israel and Egypt that we will honor as long as Israel honors it,” Moussa reportedly said.

Moussa served as foreign minister under ousted President Hosni Mubarak for a decade.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on Egypt to control the instability in the Sinai Peninsula in order to keep the peace between the two countries.

The unrest has grown since Mubarak was overthrown more than a year ago. The gas line running between Egypt and Israel has been attacked no less than 14 times, and terrorists have infiltrated into Israel from Sinai. — jta