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Monday, Septemper 30, 1996
'I WARNED NETANYAHU AGAINST NEW STYLE OF INTIFADA' Israel urged to honour peace commitments President Hosni Mubarak emphasised that the full implementation of the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinians is the only solution to end the tragic crisis in the occupied Arab land. In an exclusive statement to Samir Ragab, Board Chairman of Darul Tahrir for Printing and Publishing and Editor-in-Chief of both Al Messa and Mayo newspapers, President Mubarak, lambasting recalcitrance and procrastination of the Israeli government, insisted that each party should abide by its commitments to the Middle East peace process. Mr. Mubarak warned that disrespect of binding agreements would drive other parties to lose confidence and refuse to continue their peace march. Referring to the regrettable incidents that broke out in the West Bank and the self-ruled Palestinian areas in the past five days, President Mubarak repeatedly forewarned against the recurrence of the tragic violence even after the current explosive situation between Israel and the Palestinians was contained. However, he confirmed that only the implementation of agreements would guarantee the peaceful situation in the future. Blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the tragic development of the situation, President Mubarak said that he had-more tan once-called upon the Israeli Premier to honour his country's peace commitment and take practical steps to carry out agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinians. "Since he assumed his responsibility as Israel Premier, I have repeatedly urged Netanyahu to implement agreements and redeploy the Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron", President Mubarak said, adding : "I also urged him to support the economy and security of the Palestinian national authority and resume peace talks on both the Syrian and Lebanese tracks within the framework of the Madrid conference and the land for peace principle." In his statement to Mr. Ragab, President Mubarak also pointed out that he made it clear to the Israeli Premier that peace was a strategic option for Arabs. "I also forewarned that without peace tension and instability would dominate the situation in the region." Criticising indecisiveness by the new Israeli government to carry out agreements reached by former Israeli governments with Arabs, President Mubarak indicated that countries and governments alone-not individuals or political parties-empower the endorsement of agreements. On this occasion, President Mubarak recalled that Egypt reached its peace accord with Israel’s Likud government . "Both of s honored our commitments," he said. "And both the Jordanian and the Palestinians reached their agreements with the Labour government and they all honoured their commitments as well." President Mubarak regretted that the present Israeli government wanted to carry out different formulas which would further complicate the situation and undermine the peace prospects. Commenting on the bloody incidents that were sparked in the Palestinian occupied land and self-ruled areas following the provocative opening of a tunnel under Temple Mount, President Mubarak insisted that together with the increasing economic pressure on the Palestinian people, the Israeli hesitation to implement the binding agreements led to this tragic end. President Mubarak, indicating that he had warned before against a Intifada by the frustrated and desperate Palestinians who lost hopes and confidence to restore their rights, said: I have more than once warned against a revival of intifada by the Palestinians if in a state of despair or should their hopes be shattered in obtaining their rights endorsed by agreements. Such new intifada we witnessed the iceberg of it in the past few days when dozens of innocent Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured" Dismissing Israeli Prime Minister's claims to disconnect links between the tunnel and the bloody incidents by saying that the tunnel was an old scheme, President Mubarak inquired : "As long as the tunnel was an old one, why didn't the former government of Shimon Peres open it ?" Garnering support for the peace process in the middle East, president Mubarak emphasised: "Peace is the ultimate hope of all the regional peoples. " peace is the day for stability, security and development." He also warned that without peace the struggle would further squander all resources. Paying tribute to the unified Arab stance, President Mubarak said that the Arab summit that was held in Cairo was designated to help achieve peace and serve the interests of the peoples. "Arabs are talking one language of peace." President Mubarak seized the opportunity of his statement to Mr. Ragab to address the Egyptian people and underline the fact that despite years-long painstaking efforts to save peace he was always keen to closely follow the domestic issues ad measures taken to improve the Egyptian economy. "I am always careful in ensuring that the economic reforms guaranteeing the social dimension and removing obstacles blocking the investment drive," president Mubarak said. He added: "We are also going ahead with plans to build more housing units and further cut short the unemployment problem." he also pledged the government support to health and social care. "We are also keen to stage a comprehensive education process that will serve the interests of Egyptian citizens in the first place, President Mubarak concluded. |
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