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Wednesday, March 13, 1996
H.E. President Bill Clinton, President Boris Yeltsin, Sponsors of the Middle East Peace Conference, Brothers and Friends, Presidents and Heads of State and Government, H.E. Secretary General of the United Nations, Heads of Delegations, I have the pleasure to welcome you all in this place of Egypt's land where continents and civilizations meet and link all the peoples aspiring for co-existence and creative interaction along the road to peace, development and progress. Undoubtedly, your keenness to attend this conference and enable it to achieve its goals, reflects a sincere adherence to the issue of peace and stability in the whole world, especially in the Middle East that has witnessed in recent years an active drive and considerable progress towards a just, comprehensive peace which puts an end to half a century of bloody conflict, violence and destruction, and places the region on the threshold of a new era of reconciliation and construction. You have all supported and consolidated that march since the Madrid Conference in October, 1991. So, naturally you have followed up its developments with great interest and backed up the peoples of the region in confronting challenges and obstacles and the dangers that jeoparadize their security and safety, in a time they are in a dire need to dedicate themselves fully to the development and reconstruction process and achieve prosperity. Brothers, Heads of State and Government, You may agree with me that this meeting should be a step forward and an essential development in the persistent endeavours, in order to realize peace, reconciliation among peoples, consolidate security among nations away from threatening or using force and to back the legitimate human struggle against terrorism and violence in all its forms. We should particularly focus on the Middle East, an area of global strategic importance. This sublime aim necessitates intensifying efforts to save peace, maintain its drive, protect it from the dangers of impasse and setbacks and to give a new hopeful momentum. Achieving this goal lies in persistent and sincere work in order to realize tangible progress on all tracks during the coming months. Such work can be achieved in an atmosphere away from violence, threats and suppression, securing the peoples' right to live in peace and safety, free from fear and disturbance and the accusation by any people to others, just because small groups are involved in acts of terrorism and extremism and commit evil actions rejected by religions and principles. To the people of Palestine I say: you are a struggling people who suffered, fought, resisted, acknowledged their course and realized the right goal of their struggle. Do not be frustrated or give up to the calls of falsification and defeatism. Do not lose the sound vision after the wheel of peace has started to roll backed by the various world powers. Support for the Palestinian issue has become an inevitable collective international commitment. The whole international community will never give you up, but will maintain their support in order to eliminate internal and external obstacles impeding and jeoparadizing your march. Decision making should be yours, free from pressure and fear. It is your destiny and your right to self-determination is guaranteed and the future is hopeful. To the people of Israel I say: Your forefathers lived side by side with the Arabs for long centuries in harmony and amity. Their relations were based on fraternity, cordiality and mutual respect of creeds and cultures, irrespective of fanaticism and racial hatred. I say to them: you should realize that the future of the whole region - including Israel - is subject to achieving just and comprehensive peace and security to all parties. The elimination of some passive phenomena, irrespective of their being painful, does not lie in denying such values and principles or losing confidence in peace and hope in the future and falling in the abyss of extremism and fanaticism. All this leads only to a going back to the vicious circle of violence and destruction. There is no key to the feeling of security, but clear-cut bias to peace, as those threatening security are the enemies of peace who aim at aborting and impeding the progress of its march. We reassure you that the Arab nation does not intend to harm or betray you and that the Palestinian people are your closest neighbour and partner in working for a better life. The Palestinian people have suffered, just like you, from violence and extremism, but this has not shaken the overwhelming majority's faith in just peace and in the future. To friendly peoples whose support on the road of peace, reconciliation and construction we appreciate, we voice our gratitude for their wise stand that signifies deep faith in the oneness of human destiny and a firm moral commitment to the issues of peace, justice and development. To the leaders participating in this historic conference, I expect hope that we will take definite steps and measures to protect peace from the dangers and threats that impede its march. May we also devise mechanism for concerted efforts by the entire world society to defeat the forces of evil and terrorism, and revive hope in the hearts of the coming generations. Dear Brothers and Friends, For quite a time, the peoples of this region have sustained devastating wars and bloody conflicts. Their security continued to be threatened and their resources depleted until the time came for getting out of impasse. Consecutive steps on the road to peace have been adopted and negotiations started to consolidate security to all countries of the region on an equal basis that defends all parties against the dangers of aggressions and the threats of using force to impose certain situations that are incompatible with right and justice. However, such progress has infuriated war-mongers who spread terrorism in the area in a bid to jeoparadize security and peace, and obstruct development efforts. Their subversive acts were backed by some foreign circles which wish no welfare to the peoples of the Middle East. They lavishly payed to terrorist groups and supported them with weapons, training centres and shelter,while other parties outside the region were in collusion with terrorists in granting them asylum and covered up their move through which they perpetrated their criminal stratagems. As a consequence, I have called, at an early stage, for the convocation of an international conference. I have also presented a proposal in this connection to the European Parliament in Strasbourg 1986 underlining that terrorism and extremism are not confined to a certain area, ethnic, religious or cultural group. In fact, it is not an Islamic phenomenon and should not be attributed to Islam and its teachings. It is an anti-Islamic phenomenon as much as it is hostile to the followers of the other religions and cultures. Hence, we have welcomed the convocation of the international conference to fight terrorism in all its forms, held on February 19 of this year at Baguio in the Philippines in which most countries participated. The conference has laid down several basic principles and positive resolutions which constitute a first step on the road of confronting international terrorism. It also underlined the responsibilities of all countries of the world to resist and confront terrorism by all means. There remains for our great gathering the adoption of more effective and decisive resolutions, policies and arrangements whereby peace in the region is protected from dangers, chances to perpetrate such inhuman acts are diminished, and the World Community would be more capable of exposing the forces supporting their criminal stratagems. Eventually, victory will be to the forces of welfare and construction and glory for peacemakers, supporters of justice and freedom. May each and every people aspire for their right to live without fear or oppression in a future of co-existence, reconciliation, renunciation of war, violence and destruction. Peace be upon the entire world. |
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