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Saturday, July 27, 2002
President Hosni Mubarak reiterated that Egypt is working for the establishment of peace and stability in the critical Middle East region. In an interview with Channel 3 of the French TV, he said that the ongoing incidents affirm that Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon does not want the Mideast problem to end. He added that the continuation of the vicious circle of violence which resulted in the killing of innocent civilians will never lead to the establishment of peace and may lead to the total destruction of this spot of the world, a matter that has grave consequences. President Mubarak also called upon the Israeli government to work towards peace and stop acts of destruction and killing of innocents. Asked if there is a method to prevent Israel and its American supporters from practicing political hegemony over the Palestinian people and the Arab world which is considered the main cause of the ongoing tragedy, Mubarak said that the solution to such a dilemma is to work for peace. He added that we are working to establish peace and stability in this spot of the world but the tragedy springs originally from bias to one side at the expense of the other, therefore we are trying to contain the situation as much as we can and we will not relinquish our task. President Mubarak stressed that Israel could have resorted to several other means than the destruction of one building with all its inhabitants in Gaza in search for one person, adding that the impages of children killed are horrifying and that what happened is a disaster that would give rise to retaliatory acts. Answering a question on whether he beleives that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon attempts to blow all opportunities to resume negotiations especially in light of what Fatah organization that is affiliated to Plaestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and Hamas announcedin light of the last Israeli attack on Gaza that they would retaliate, President Mubarak said that a thorough look at the current events would made clear that Sharon does not want the Mideast problem to end, stressing that Fatah was trying to freeze all forms of violence. On a possible US attack on Iraq during the periof from October 2002-January 2003, President Mubarak said "I do not think that US President George Bush will launch such an attack now, because he knows quite well that the situation is very serious now as we already have the Palestinian-Israeli problem and launching an attack on Iraq will make the peoples of the region sympathize with both the Palestinians and the Iraqis, a matter that will deepen feelings of hatred towards the Israelis and the Americans, so such a step requires a careful study as well as wisdom". In reply to another question whether he thinks that militant groups will take retaliatory measures against Israeli and US targets worldwide, President Mubarak said "leaving the Middle East cause unsolved besides the growing complications and launching of attack on Iraq will definitely lead to the emergence of more groups that operate in the region only but against us all and hence we will be insecure". On his evaluation of the war against the so-called "international terrorism" espially that the US would commemorate within weeks the first anniversary of the September 11 tragedy, President Mubarak said that compating terrorism is a process that takes long time and involves finding solutions to conflicts in hot sopts worldwide including the Middle East and Iraq with a view to defusing tension and reduce activities of terrorist groups. Mubarak also reiterated his call to hold an international conference for combating terrorism, a call he made 10 years ago. As for the European role towards the Middle East cause, in light of President Mubarak's current European tour that took him to France and Spain, Mubarak said that Europe understands the Mideast cause as well as Arab problems quite well especially France. "France knows quite well how serious the situation is in the region therefore I was keen on visiting France and Europe to exchange viewpoints on the Mideast cause", Mubarak said. |
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