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Friday, December 07, 2001
President Hosni Mubarak warned on Thursday that Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's threats to undermine the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) would not be the end of the story. Such threats would lead to the explosion of violence both inside and outside but this time it would be bigger than they were ever before, Mubarak added. In an interview with As-Safir newspaper by its Editor-in-Chief Talal Salman, Mubarak warned that the state of frustration in which the Palestinians are living would push them to carry out more explosions. There is no way other than a European and American pressure on Sharon to push him to sit at the negotiating table, he added. The U.S. has interests in the region and it would never give them up, Mubarak said, warning that lack of stability in the region would affect these interests. Mubarak described the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian Authority's institutions as a very dangerous and silly act. "We are against killing civilians whether they are in Israel or in Palestine. Killing innocent people is a very serious issue," he said. "Since Sharon's government came to power, the cycle of action and reaction has not stopped. What will this lead to? Will things stop at this? We have entered into a vicious circle that should be broken and this will not be achieved unless we sit at the negotiating table," Mubarak added. He said that lifting the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian areas should be the first step so that "People will heave a sigh of relief and feel hopeful for the future." Asked whether Sharon's declaration of war on the PNA can be seen as an attempt to undermine that Palestinian leadership, Mubarak said: "What does he really mean by declaring a war? Is he going to fight a state? He has an arsenal of weapons and planes while the Palestinians have nothing. So, he is declaring a war on defenceless people. This is ridiculous." Mubarak added that such a war would lead to nowhere and Sharon would achieve neither stability nor security for the Israelis. Asked whether the hope of resuming negotiations has been dashed, Mubarak said: "When you find yourself unable to send children to school or hospital or even to feed them, you will feel frustrated and decide to commit suicide but also to kill someone else with you. This is what takes place now and it will continue unless a solution is reached. But my words should not be taken as a call for violence. All sides should stop violence. We have had negotiations before Sharon who has stoked up the situation in the region more than once." Mubarak cited the provocative visit of Sharon, then Israeli opposition leader, to the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque in September 1999. Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest site. Asked whether there is a state of despair in Egypt over Sharon's government, Mubarak said: "I feel no despair. But I can say there is a state of frustration at the practices of Sharon’s government and Sharon's personal decisions in which the government may have no hand." Mubarak said that the Israelis elected Sharon to bring them security but his use of military power had led to nothing. On whether he is worried over Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's life. Mubarak said: "I am concerned about peace in the first place. But if the Israelis killed Arafat they would commit a crime against all the Palestinians and the Israelis alike, because it will be difficult to find someone who is backed by all the Palestinians." Mubarak added: "Several leaderships will then emerge and they will vie to gain support of the Palestinians by carrying out more violent operations inside and outside Israel. Israel should understand this very well and know that it is a danger. He warned that the elimination of Arafat would engender chaos which would be harmful to Israel. "There must come a time when the people's patience is frayed and the governments would be compelled to enter into an arms race to obtain lethal biological weapons. Speaking about U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's proposals, the President said he does not think the latest events will have any impact on Powell's suggestions. "We have asked Bush Administration not to recall General Anthony Zinni because what have taken place should make the U.S. more determined to go ahead with putting into effect the Mitchell report," Mubarak said. He said that no solution would be reached without negotiations "whether Sharon completes what he calls a war or not... and he would not be able to complete it." He added that Sharon does not want negotiations, citing the Israeli Premier’s insistence on a seven-day period of full non-violence. "This is impractical and gives the enemies of peace the chance to hamper the march."· The present Israeli government makes promises without fulfilling them. Since coming to power, Sharon has given me three promises, of which he has kept not a single promise," said Mubarak. President Mubarak added that US and European pressure on Sharon is inevitable to bring him to the negotiating table. "I think that the US and Europe should make their best now because violence is mounting and the situation will aggravate," he said. "We will not allow the Palestinian cause to die," he said, adding that setting up the Palestinian state side by side with Israel is inevitable. "It (the Palestinian state) is the best guarantee for Israel's security." Mubarak said that Powell's Mideast proposals complement the Mitchell Report and the George Tenet plan. "I told President George W. Bush frankly and objectively that the Palestinian cause brooks no delay because the situation is deteriorating day after day," he said, citing his contacts with the US Administration before the September 11 attacks. Mubarak described as good Powell's proposals, adding that what is important is their implementation. Asked if the current U.S. Administration has the ability to get Israel to implement them, Mubarak said that he believes the present administration has such ability. "The US represents the life artery for Israel," he added, pointing to the military and financial support the Jewish state is getting from Washington. Mubarak reiterated Egypt's keenness to free the Middle East of nuclear and mass destruction weapons. "The region will be destroyed either by nuclear, chemical or biological weapons," Mubarak warned, adding that no one would be immune to this danger. He asserted that the United states has indispensable interests in the region, adding that Mideast instability might undermine those interests. “The US does not accept Sharon's seven-day precondition and it supports for the first time in public the creation of the Palestinian state," he added, adding that these principles require implementation on the ground. Mubarak alluded to the global economic crisis following the September 11 assaults, adding that they have deeply affected tourism and aviation industries in Egypt, Europe and the world at large. Whether the war in Afghanistan is similar to the Gulf War II, Mubarak said they were totally different. "The Gulf War erupted to put an end to one country's aggression on its neighbour but the war on Afghanistan is a war against terrorists," he added. We cannot say that this war will end terrorism. We are talking about terrorism resulting from the wrong practices of groups that have been acting under the cloak of Islam for long." Mubarak said he asked the Americans to avoid hitting civilians in Afghanistan, adding that during wars it is difficult to know the civilian from the military. Mubarak stressed that situation in Afghanistan will not calm down and that the peacekeepers who will be stationed there will undertake an uphill task. He went on to say that Egypt's problems with terrorism started with the withdrawal of the Russian forces from Afghanistan in the 1980s. The terrorists, who call themselves Mujahidin, found themselves jobless. Some came to Egypt through Libya and Sudan and only then the terror operations began. Mubarak stressed that all perpetrators of terror operations in Egypt came from Afghanistan. He denied that late President Anwar Al-Sadat's ruling system had encouraged Islamists. "Some people advised Sadat to encourage the Islamic groups to stand in face of communism. But this advice was not sound because communism did not thrive in our country." On the Egyptian-American relations, Mubarak said they are strong and based on joint interests "though the Jewish lobby sometimes tries to trouble them." He cited the row triggered recently by the Israeli supporters over an arms deal between the U.S. and Egypt. |
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