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Sunday, October 21, 2001
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in office for 20 years, is no stranger to terrorism: Islamic extremists assassinated his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in 1981 and have tried to kill Mubarak as well. Mubarak is overtly endorsing the U.S. war on terrorism and he is also helping behind the scenes: There is an ongoing exchange of US-Egyptian intelligence; Egypt has granted 300 overflight requests from the United States since Sept. 11; last week, a US aircraft carrier moved through the Suez Canal on short notice. But the 73-year-old Mubarak also warns that to keep his country and the region stable, there must be progress on peace between Israel and the Palestinians. is the full text of an exclusive interview last week in Cairo with Lally Weymouth of The Washington Post and Newsweek: Q: Are you with the US until the end in the fight against terrorism? A: I support the US in fighting terrorism. Q: What is your advice to the US on how to handle the terrorists? A: If the war in Afghanistan ends, this will not be the end of the terrorists. We will have to work hard to collect their agents everywhere. Q: Some in the US argue for going after Iraq and other countries that harbor terrorists. A:Don't widen the battlefield. You will have public opinion against you, and not only in the Arab world. If you attack any country in the Middle East, the countries that want to help will be in a difficult position. Q: But you said that there are [terrorist] networks beyond Afghanistan. A: Some may exist in Europe. Q:Britain has given shelter to terrorists that you [sought] to extradite. A: I talked about this [two weeks ago] with Prime Minister [Tony] Blair, who said according to their laws, they could not extradite them. So I told him, "Watch them. Be careful." Q: Has Germany also sheltered terrorists? A: There were some in Germany and in the US I think now you are collecting them. Q: Didn't you warn the US not to accept Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman [an Egyptian-born cleric with ties to Osama bin Laden who obtained a U.S. visa in 1990]? A: When they asked me, I told them, "No, you're going to pay a heavy price." You kept him and he bombed the World Trade Center in '93. US authorities describe Rahman as the "spiritual" leader of the four men convicted in the 1993 bombing. [Rahman was later convicted of a plot to blow up New York tunnels.] Q: Did you ever think an attack like Sept. 11 would happen? A: Never. I was shocked. Q: Where does Anthrax come from? A: I don't think that bin Laden is experienced enough for this. We are terrified and are taking measures here. Q: Do you think the US can change the Taliban regime? A: Why not? Q: Do you believe the US can capture bin Laden? A: If you catch him, we will clap our hands for you. Q: What is the extent of Egypt's intelligence sharing with the US? A: We are exchanging information almost on a daily basis. Q: What do you know about bin Laden? A: He worked with the US during the Afghan war, along with Sheik Abdel Rahman. After the war, you left them without jobs. Bin Laden started working in drugs, making billions of dollars. Q: Do you feel personally threatened? A: As long as I am active in the relationship with Israel, I am under threat. Q: Why are there so many Egyptians like Ayman Zawahiri [a top bin Laden aide] in al Qaeda? A: He was one of the mujaheddin recruited by the US in Afghanistan. When the Soviets withdrew, he turned to terrorism. Though he comes from a good family, he participated in killing Sadat. Q: Egypt sent troops to fight with the US-led coalition during the Gulf War. Would you do so this time? A: Look, in the Arab world there is a joint defense agreement that if there is an aggression against an [Arab] country, we have to support action. But with Afghanistan, there is no agreement. So if I want to send forces, I have to get the parliament's approval and win public opinion. I don't think they will agree. Q: It is rumored that you have been consulted about a new secret US plan for peace in the Middle East. A: As long as your country is attacking terrorism in Afghanistan, please strike a balance by moving forward in the peace process. Thus, the public would understand that you are not just attacking Muslims. . . . Q: Even if the Palestinians and Israelis had reached an agreement at Camp David, don't you think bin Laden would have blown up the World Trade Center? A: Bin Laden made his explosions and then started talking about the Palestinians. He never talked about them before. Q: Are you advising [Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat that this is his last chance? A: We keep pushing him to move. He seems incapable of making a decision. Arafat can't make a decision alone or the people would leave him. Mind you, Arafat has some terrible people around him, like [Marwan] Barguti. Q: Egypt did make peace with Israel but it is said to be a cold peace and your media is hostile to Israel. A: Egypt is a country that sacrificed for peace. We lost Sadat. I have been criticized for making contact with Israelis. I've had three promises from [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon but not one was implemented. He sent an envoy to me after he took office, who said Sharon wants to end his career by making peace. He was going to make a peace plan within two weeks and, after finalizing it, would meet with me. . . . Nothing happened. The only Israeli interested in peace was [former prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin [assassinated in 1995]. He was a very courageous man. Q: Will the Syrians stop hosting terrorist organizations? A: The Palestinian organizations there are very well controlled. Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran, uses Syria as a transit point. For the time being, this has nearly stopped. The Syrian president is keen not to put his country in a difficult position. He wants peace. Q: President [Bashar] Assad wants peace with Israel? A: He wants peace with Israel. Q: How can you prevent young Egyptians from being radicalized? A: Look, the situation does not give us room for investment to create jobs for them. If the Israelis could make progress on the peace process, it would help the whole area. Q: It is said that bin Laden's aim is to drive the US troops out of Saudi Arabia and then go after your regime and that of Saudi Arabia. Do you agree? A: He wants to find an excuse to draw the attention of the Arab world. But he never mentioned the Palestinian issue before the last few days. . . . Q: Suicide bombing has been condoned by the Egyptian press. Don't you think it should be condemned? A: We are against killing innocent people by suicide bombs. Suicide bombing is a result of the siege. As long as there is a siege, there will be suicide bombers. Q: Why are all the terrorists involved in the World Trade Center bombing Muslims? A: Because of the feelings of injustice. Palestine has created many problems in this part of the world. Q: Is the reward for these terrorists that Arafat gets a Palestinian state? A: Let us be realistic. I don't care about Arafat. I care about stability. I care about the fact that though terrorism can't be stopped, it could be lessened if peace moved forward. Time will prove me right. Q: President Bush has already advocated the creation of a Palestinian state. A: I told him, "Move in this direction to help us." We never had as bad a situation in the Middle East as we have with Sharon. Q: Did Bush say he would move? A: He told me [before Sept. 11], "I'm going to support a Palestinian state." He's a very good man. I knew his father, and helped him, too. Then you forgot all we did. Q: Like World War II, is this a turning point? A: Look, conventional war is easier to deal with than terrorism. In a real war, the theater is limited. There's a front line. You know where your enemy is. With terrorism, you never know where the attack is coming from. Who could imagine that commercial planes would hit the World Trade Center? That the USS Cole would be blown up? The American barracks in Saudi Arabia bombed? The US embassies in Africa destroyed? Our embassy in Islamabad? The Israeli embassy in Argentina? Terror is much more terrible than war. |
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