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Thursday, November 20, 1997
President Hosni said that today that easing the suffering of Iraqi people, under UN economic sanctions, comes at the forefront of Egypt’s priorities. In an exclusive interview with CNN, the Egyptian leader said that the Iraqi government should fulfil the UN Security Council resolutions "to avoid fresh violence and bloodletting in the region." President Mubarak said he believed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein started the stand-off, assuming that the world countries would support him. When all parties stood against Baghdad's decisions, he continued, the Iraqi leader began to feet how dangerous the situation was. The Egyptian leader, further, said that Saddam posed no threat to the region at the present time, but if he was left with his mass destruction weapon arsenal he would probably pose a threat to the entire region. Mubarak expected the United Nations sanctions, imposed on Saddam Hussein's regime after invading Kuwait in 1990, would be lifted as soon as Iraq complies to the world organs resolutions. However, he added, the end of the UN sanctions was at the hands of the UN Security Council members, especially the United States. President Mubarak's interview also tackled the Monday bloody attack on tourists in the Hatshepsut temple that killed 64 people. He told the world TV network that the government had stepped up security measures in Luxor following the attack. The President, furthermore, expected the $3 billion-a-year Egyptian tourism industry to be affected on the short run by the attack, adding that the impact of the terrorist incident would not be felt on the long run. President Mubarak, also, said that the Egyptian economy in general would not be damaged by the attack, which aimed at hitting tourism, one of Egypt's key hard currency earner. He added that the Egyptian economy was "moving in different directions, so that it would not be affected by the increase or decrease of tourists." Mubarak told the CNN that the Egyptian people along with himself felt deep grief over the killing of innocent tourists, adding that none in Egypt supported the wicked attack. Mubarak said, moreover, that Egypt was keen on stepping up security measures in Luxor and the rest of tourist sites nation-wide to protect "Egypt's guests." Mubarak, touching on the ongoing Middle East peace process developments, said that the United States was still a key player in the region's peace issue. Without the US, it was too difficult or almost impossible to move ahead with the regional peace process. The President said that since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud government assumed power, the parties concerned have been asking the United States to pressure Israel to honour its peace accords with the Palestinians. He added that when Netanyahu telephoned him to offer his condolences after the Luxor attack, he told him that he had new proposals to push ahead the stalled peace process. The President hoped that Netanyahu's new proposals would prove fruitful. Moreover, Mubarak said that he had told the Israeli Premier that the new proposals should be appropriate to avoid "any more setbacks" in the peace process. |
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