A: My visit to Poland is the first presidential visit since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1927. Our relations have developed during the past 80 years and deepened since Poland joined the European Union in 2004. We are engaging in political consultations and cooperation in numerous fields, whether at the bilateral level between Cairo and Warsaw or in the context of Egypt's Partnership Agreement with the European Union.

 

Poland is the sixth largest country in the European Union in terms of population, a fact which gives it significant voting power in the Union on political and economic matters, and that affects European stances on the issues of the Middle East, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause.

 

Bilateral trade between Poland and Egypt amounts to nearly USD 200 Million, and nearly 300,000 Polish tourists visit Egypt annually. While these numbers have seen high growth over the past 3 years, they are still not at the level we aspire to in terms of greater cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, tourism and others. I hope my visit to Warsaw will give a new boost to the existing relationship and to cooperation between Egypt and Poland.

 

A: It was Egypt which opened the door to peace, and she has not flagged in driving the peace process forward over the past 30 years. We are continuing our contacts with the Palestinian and Israeli sides and other effective regional and international parties to take advantage of the current opportunity in the wake of the Annapolis meeting, so that it will not be lost as other opportunities were lost in the past.

Israel's military escalation in Gaza and the blockaded imposed by Israel on the Strip doest not provide the calm necessary for the continuation of final status negotiations that were launched at the Annapolis meeting. The situation is further complicated by Israel's similar practices in the West Bank, and its policies of crossings closure, barriers, and detentions, in addition to the continued construction of the separation wall and settling activities.

 

Peace efforts require that these practices end and that confidence building measures with the Palestinian Authority progress, as well as a continuation of negotiations on final status issues.  It is also necessary that the U.S administration engage in these negotiations in order to overcome any difficulties and obstacles both parties may face so that a peace agreement can be reached before the end of its term, as promised by President Bush, and as we hope. I underscored the importance of that goal to Secretary of State Rice when I received her last week.

 

Regarding your question on the status of Arab relations with Israel, it depends, for good or ill, on achieving a breakthrough in the peace process.

 

 

 

A: President Sadat was a statesman of the first class. Later developments in the region have proven his foresight and the veracity of his vision when he launched his peace initiative and visited Jerusalem. He took that step from a position of strength after the October War of 1973 and he restored occupied Sinai to Egypt through war and peace. He returned from Camp David with two framework agreements: one relating to an Egyptian-Israel peace, and the other dealt with the Palestinian issue. Imagine what the situation would be had the late President Arafat agreed to participate in the meeting called by President Sadat at the Mena House Hotel in Cairo, and compare that with the developments that have taken place in the Palestinian arena from that day to the present.

 

Undoubtedly, President Sadat's decision was correct, and had I been President, I would have taken the same decision. At that time I was Vice-President, and I lived through his decision to seek peace, as I, a few years earlier, lived through his decision to go to war in 1973

 

 

A: Israel is responsible for the current situation in Gaza, as the occupying power. The unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Strip does not relieve it of this responsibility. The legal status of the Gaza is identical to the legal situation in the West Bank: both are considered occupied territory.

 

Egypt is continuing it efforts and engaging in contacts to lift the blockade of Gaza and to end the suffering of its Palestinian residents. But we will not accept Israel washing its hands of its responsibilities and we reject its attempts to export the whole problem to Egypt

 

Egypt is continuing its contacts with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the European Union and the United States and other effective international parties. We also have contacts with Hamas officials for a ceasefire, border security, and to achieve a situation that will lead to the lifting of the blockade and to end the suffering of the people in the Strip. We are attempting through our contacts to return to the crossings protocol that was reached in 2005, which will permit the return of the Palestinian Authority officials and EU monitors to the Rafah Port meant for the passage of persons. Furthermore, we are striving to reopen the remaining crossings such as the Karam Abu Salem port for goods and humanitarian assistance. Moreover, the Egyptian Red Crescent had been providing various forms of humanitarian assistance before Israel closed the border, and we are striving to reopen it in order to permit the access of further Egyptian and Arab aid to the Gaza Strip.

 

 

A: Iraq is still going through a difficult period and our position on the military intervention of 2003 is well known. We opposed it and we warned against its consequences. We are monitoring developments in Iraq and we look forward to an end to the violence and bloodshed and to the success of the current political process. This depends on encouraging all political forces and all sectors of Iraqi society to participate in this process as the sons of one nation, avoiding any ethnic divides and sectarianism, and without division or discrimination.

 

As regards achieving democracy, I believe that the current priority of the people of Iraq is putting an end to the violence and bloodshed and restoring calm and stability, as well as making progress in reconstruction and development efforts. The people of Iraq deserve a better situation; one that guarantees peace and security to its people in their daily life and places Iraq's wealth in the service of its citizens and maintain the independence and stability of Iraq and its territorial integrity.

 

A: Peaceful applications of nuclear power are a right guaranteed to all members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran must show full transparency which will eliminate all doubts as to the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. Moreover, the international community must continue its dialogue with Iran regarding this program through diplomatic channels.

 

A: Egypt is a major state in this region of the world and an effective and active member of the international community. Its role regarding the issues of the Middle East is well known and uninterrupted, being a major one in improving the status of the region and dealing with its various issues.

 

Egypt's role extends beyond the Middle East to other international arenas: Africa and its armed conflicts; Euro-Mediterranean cooperation; terrorism and non-proliferation; and other issues dealt with in international forums; the international economic and trade system as addressed at the World Trade Organization, in addition to other arenas of Egyptian action at the regional and international level. It would be sufficient to draw attention to Sharm El-Sheikh's hosting of the African Union summit next summer, as well as the meeting of the Asian-Middle East dialogue, and the World Economic Forum.

 

A: Sincere motivation, proper direction, devotion to work, and a commitment to the interests of the nation and its citizens. That is the way for any president or ruler to win the confidence of the people. It is way for any official at any level to win trust.

 

The Egyptian people are intelligent and do not give their trust easily. They came to know me at the beginning as a commander of the air forces during the October War, and later as Vice-President to President Sadat, and then as President of the Republic. Together, we faced numerous challenges and waged bitter battles against terrorism. We progressed on the path of reform and development over various phases, during which I have habitually been clear to the people regarding the challenges and difficulties we face and presented to them our achievements and our aspirations for the future. It has also been my habit to explain to the people our positions on the issues of our region and Egypt's international relations and her foreign policy, frankly and clearly.

 

A: Egypt's economic indicators are continually improving, as witnessed to by the numerous reports of independent parties, the latest of which was the International Finance Institute's report of last February.

 

Our reform policies and programs have extended to the tax and customs and banking sectors, and have led to accelerated improvement in our investment climate. Foreign direct investments have increased to USD 11 billion annually, when it did not exceed USD 3 billion a few years ago. Last year, we achieved a GDP growth rate of 7.1%, and our balance of payments achieved a surplus of USD 3 billion during the first half of the current financial year.

 

Currently, our focus is to achieve social justice in the distribution of the fruits of this economic growth across all sectors of Egyptian society and across all governorates, including investments, projects and job opportunities. We are also paying special attention to supporting marginalized and limited income groups. We are sparing no effort to control the inflation rate due to the unprecedented rise in global oil and food prices, and the resulting rise in cost of living around the world, including the European Union and the Gulf.

 

 

A: No state in the world can claim to be completely secure from the threats of terrorism. Egypt began its battle against terrorism earlier than others did, and before it became an international phenomenon from which none of us is secure. You may recall that since the eighties we have called for an international conference on terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations. Unfortunately, that conference has not been convened to date, and even though 13 agreements have been concluded through the United Nations so far to combat terrorism, its forces can strike anywhere and anytime.

 

Egypt succeeded in its battle against terrorism because the people became part of that battle after having suffered from criminal acts that targeted the innocent and their livelihoods. Additionally, we did not limit our actions to the security field, rather we engaged in a dialogue with these forces that was intended to drive a process of intellectual revision and targeted, and continues to target, radicalism as the starting point of the path to terrorism.

 

Nothing justifies terrorism, but I have advised, and continued to advise on the need to confront the roots, causes and motives of terrorism. There are numerous issues that await a just resolution, such as the Palestinian cause and the current situation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Moreover, there is the repeated and intentional insulting of Muslims and what they hold sacred.  

 

A: Where does Poland stand from where it was in the early nineties? You achieved great success in your democratic process, and we in Egypt have realized similar achievements. Where does our democracy stand now compared to where we were in the 1960s and 1970s of the last century. We have taken great strides in reforming our constitutional and legislative frameworks in support of pluralism, and to develop our partisan, parliamentary and political life.  The president is now chosen, for the first time in our history, via direct multi-candidate elections rather than by referendum. We have an independent judiciary and a bicameral legislature that exercises its wide monitoring, accountability, and legislative powers.

There is no one democratic model that is appropriate for application in any and all places. Our Egyptian experience springs from our society and takes into consideration our particular situation and specificities, and at the same time respects common democratic values and practices.  Just as you in Poland passed through a transitional period during the Nineties, we are also going through a similar phased transition of our democracy that takes into account the threats of failure and instability.

A: The protection of human rights is an established part of our Egyptian culture, and Egypt is a party to the main international human rights instruments. We respect their rules and entrench their values and principles. The Egyptian Constitution and Egyptian laws provide for equality between all citizens in rights and responsibilities and protects their basic rights in including the freedom of opinion and expression. We have a national council for human rights and a national council for women that defends women's rights and protects them against all forms of discrimination, in addition to a national council for motherhood and childhood that tackles women's issues.

 

We guarantee the rights of association, protest, and demonstration so long as they are exercised within the bounds of the law.  As regards freedom of expression and of the press, I invite you to review our daily and weekly newspapers and note the full range of perspectives and positions expressed in them.

 

A:  We learned the dangers of mixing politics and religion from modern history and what it leads to in terms of violence and assassinations before and after the revolution of 1952. Political Islam began in Egypt and from under its umbrella sprang radical organizations and their well known and lesser known symbols around the world. We in the Arab and Islamic worlds are religious peoples. It is easy to deceive people by speaking of religion and to hide behind it purely political goals and objectives that do not conform to the spirit of the age nor provides real solutions to society's problems or a clear path to achieving its aspirations for the future.

 

Religion is a relationship between human beings and their Lord. Politics is something else. The constitutional amendments that I suggested and that won the support of the people forbids any political activity with a religious basis and blocks the intermingling of religion with politics and politics with religion for both Egypt's Muslims and Copts equally.