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Monday, July 20, 1998
President Mubarak, in an exclusive interview with Mahfouz Al Ansari, Editor-in-Chief of Middle East News Agency (MENA) reviewed dimensions of the issues of peace and development, as well as relations with the United States. "I refuse that an Arab summit be held as a media demonstration. The objective of a summit is to yield influential and effective resolutions so that it (the summit) may not lose its prestige," said the Egyptian leader, adding that the initiative which he adopted with French President Jacques Chirac in May was not an alternative to the American one. "No secret resolutions were passed at the Cairo Summit held in 1996. The only document issued was a statement which was released clearly defining our positions," Mubarak made it clear. "The Egyptian-French initiative is to support the American position in the peace process," Mubarak said, expounding that the Palestinians are the masters of their decision and he refuses to pressurize them. "The peace we know is a just peace." On "strategic dialogue" with the United States, Mubarak said such dialogue was launched to reach understanding even if there were divergent and different points of view on some issues. "The strange thing is that the American initiative has not been made known to public opinion until now. This raises questions about the whole matter. Public opinion is asking: where is America and what is its attitude? We, however, understand the dimensions of this situation, but peoples are not content." "We know the difficulties facing the United States because of its relationship with the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu," said Mubarak. "Continued complication of the peace issue will result in big difficulties, not for the ME region alone, but for all the countries of Europe and for America as well because it harms American interests. If the present conditions continue, this will lead to an extremely grave situation. Therefore, all should deal with it accurately and according to sound calculations if we are really talking about peace ... and want peace." He added that he will meet with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel in Ankara and will meet with Syrian President Hafez Al Assad in Cairo shortly. "There are contacts between US and Iran at present," said Mubarak, lauding President Mohamed Khatami’s moderate trend in Iran and wished him success. President Mubarak said he has warned against nuclear chaos and called for an international conference at the United Nations to get rid of all weapons of mass destruction. As regards domestic issues, Mubarak said: "I am the President of all Egyptians without discrimination. The fact that I am the chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP) makes Egypt avoid political chaos as was the case before 1952. "I would like at this juncture to draw attention to the fact that our country cannot bear chaos. Grassroots should be represented in the party whose leader comes from those grassroots. The most dangerous threat to political life in any country is "political chaos," added the Egyptian leader. President Mubarak said the welfare of the Egyptian layman occupies top priority among his concerns. "All efforts we make are for the sake of the Egyptian citizen," he stressed. Mubarak lauded work in Toshka project, the giant one in the south of the valley, noting that he will pay it a visit in coming December. "Work is going well in this project side by side with other mega national projects in the Gulf of Suez, Sharq Al-Tafrea and Owainat. On prospects of investments in Egypt, Mubarak said: "I would like to reassure you that we have good Egyptian and Arab investments and fair foreign investments. We welcome foreign investment in Egypt, but within the context of existing Egyptian regulations and laws. He, however, underscored the importance of taking into consideration social dimension. "I have recently inaugurated a new nuclear reactor in Inshas. We expect at the same time the appearance of a modern and advanced technology especially in safety apparatus to evade any peril that may threaten citizens when we expand the use of this state-of-the-art technology in the future for peaceful purposes," Mubarak said in reply to a question on Egypt’s future plan to utilise nuclear energy in peaceful purposes. |
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