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Thursday, March 30, 2000
President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday's Geneva Summit between President Bill Clinton and Syrian President Hafez el Assad was not a failure, but their talks reached a point that required more efforts. In an interview with Charlie Rose of the PBS Wednesday night, he said he talked over this issue with Clinton, who briefed him on the details of his summit with Assad. "Thus, when he returns to Egypt Friday, he will decide on holding a meeting with Barak within ten days, after the Cairo-hosted Euro-African Summit ends," he said. "The Syrians are not ready for any concessions and it would be difficult for Assad to give up any piece of the occupied Syrian land," he said. When he meets Barak, he said, they will examine the Israeli stance on the issue of lake Tuberous and its water. Reportedly, the main sticking point at the Geneva Summit was that Assad insisted on full withdrawal from the Golan heights. This would extend Syrian sovereignty to the edge of the lake, which provides Israel with much of its fresh water. Israel said it cannot allow Syrian access to the lake. Mubarak rejected a comparison between the Taba problem when Egypt restored the Sinai from Israel and the present Syrian-Israeli dispute saying that every country had its own concerns. "Israelis tried to bargain by keeping Taba in exchange for another piece of land, he said, but he rejected the offer and took the case to the International Court of Justice, that restored Taba to Egypt," he said. "It seems Israelis want to exchange some lands, and this issue can be negotiated if the two sides agree," he added. Mubarak rejected circulating reports on the health of the Syrian President, saying Assad was in good health. "Assad desires peace and he cannot accept any kind of peace because he will be responsible for it in front of his people," he Said. "Assad cannot relinquish one inch of land because the land is not his, it is his people's," he added. "Egypt has restored all its occupied land and he wants to restore all his occupied land as well," he said. If he makes any concessions on Syrian land his people will consider him a traitor," he said. "Commenting on a statement that Assad can take any decision, Mubarak said he disagreed because Assad does not have the right to give away his land. He also has to face opposition groups at home," he added. "On Syria's readiness to strike a peace deal with Israel, Mubarak said that it must be admitted that the confiscation of land by force is illegal and Israel must restore all the lands it occupied in 1967. Without this, it will be hard for Assad to accept a peace deal," he added. Asked on the issues of water and security to which Israel attaches primary importance, Mubarak said these two issues can be negotiated between the Syrians and Israelis. "Egypt did the same thing with the then Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and the Syrians must at least feel that the occupied land Will be returned for them to enter the negotiations," he said. Mubarak would not draw a comparison between late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He said he had a relationship with Rabin and he has a similar one now with Barak. "Barak is a flexible and kind man and they do get in touch every now and then," Mubarak said. Rabin, he added, told him in private that he was ready to restore the Golan to Syria but wanted to know what Syria would give him in return. "Mubarak, in turn, informed Assad of his meeting with Rabin," he Said. "Assad did not reject the idea, he considered it and made up his mind to pursue it on the same lines of the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations," he added. These developments took place a year prior to Rabin's assassination, but the idea was aborted during the term of his successor Benjamin Netanyahu because he did not want peace. Asked if he was satisfied with Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, Mubarak said at Sharm el Sheikh, Barak promised to work on the implementation of the agreement and that the 6.1% of West Bank land would be handed over on scheduled time, and he did. "This will be followed by additional steps in May and in September, the final status negotiations will begin," he added. On the difficulty of reaching agreement between Arabs and Israelis in general, Mubarak said every Israeli Leader had his own Style. "Yitzhak Shamir would not give up an inch of land, Rabin was very flexible and realistic and implemented the agreements he signed with Egypt and listened to his views on peace," he said. "Netanyahu refused to relinquish any inch of land to anybody and he considered us enemies, in one of his speeches he referred to us as our enemies in the south," he added. "It came as a shock to us, as we had a peace agreement signed, and we had exchanged ambassadors, embassies and tourists," he said. Mubarak referred to the domestic difficulties facing the Barak Government, and expressed hope Barak would implement what had been agreed upon. "Peace is very precious and one must do everything towards this end," he said. Egypt is working for peace and it seeks the transfer of technology from the US, it seeks to revive its economy and this cannot be attained without advanced technology. "The job of the President of Egypt is very difficult, it is not easy to be the President of Egypt," he said. "He hopes to relax when he retires, because he has been working very hard for the past 18 years," he said. "Egypt is working very hard for peace, to bridge the gaps between the various parties, because the whole region needs peace to become a reality in one of these days," Mubarak said. "The region needs to be freed from weapons of mass destruction and all states in the region need to become friends," he added. Mubarak was asked again on Assad's commitment to peace and said the Syrian President wants to reach a peace agreement but without making any concessions. He affirmed Assad would never make any concessions on the land. The Americans he has dealt with, Mubarak told the PBS, understand the Arab mentality, but the problem lies with Israelis who do not understand it until now, they do not understand how to deal with the Arabs, he said. "They must understand their mentality by understanding their culture to find out for themselves if an Arab can give up his land," he added. On Israeli fears that Iran is on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb, Mubarak said it could be a pretext that Israel wants to use as a cover not to be asked itselfto eliminate its weapons of mass destruction. Iran is a big country and we hope all weapons of mass destruction are eliminated from the region so that it can live in security, including Israel," he said. Asked if he was concerned over Iran's possible possession of WMDs, Mubarak said Egypt was concerned over the presence of any type of nuclear weapons in the region. Asked if any country could use these weapons against the other, the President said this could not be predicted. "Any crazy and angry Leader can use them and it would be better after peace is reached in the middle east that all such weapons are eliminated from the region so that its peoples could at least enjoy security, including the Israeli people," he added. "Egypt, like any country in the world, can be faced with the problem of terrorism," Mubarak said, referring to his initiative on the need to hold an international conference for the fight against terrorism. He said he himself has faced several attempts on his life, and all Leaders who have the courage to make decisions are prone to assassinations. "Some countries shelter terrorists and allow them to work against other countries by aiding them financially," he added. Mubarak expressed belief that Iran, under its new Government, is moving towards moderation, but there are extremists next to the moderates. "For Iran to overcome the difficulties, the US must deal with it because Iran is a big country," he said. On the sufferings of the Iraqi people under the UN embargo, Mubarak said he raised this issue with Clinton, and urged him to find a way to ease the sufferings of the Iraqis who are short of food and medicine. "The future Leaders of Iraq will come from those people who are shouldering the burdens of the embargo now and the US will not be able to deal with them," he added. Asked what he thought of Clinton, he said he was a kind and intelligent man and that he respects what he says. "He is an active Leader AS REGARDS the ME and I take my hat off to him," Mubarak concluded. |
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