Thursday, April 24, 1997


President Mubarak Meeting in Suez
with Commanders, Officers and Soldiers of
Second and Third Field Armies



President Hosni Mubarak, supreme commander of the armed forces, met with commanders, officers, and soldiers of the second and third field armies within the context of celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the liberation of Sinai.

President Mubarak was welcomed upon arrival at the headquarters of the third field army, where the meeting took place, by Minister of Defence and Military Production Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of Staff LT General Magdi Hatata, the commanders of the armed forces main branches, commander of the third field army Major General Seif Galal, and commander of the second field army Major General Ali Maher Haggag.

President Mubarak dealt during the meeting with some domestic and foreign issues in addition to the recent developments at Arab, regional and international levels.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Dr. Kamal el Ganzouri, speaker of the people s assembly Dr. Ahmed Fathi Serour, speaker of the Shura (consultative) council Dr. Moustafa Kamal Helmi, the ministers of transport and communicaitons, information, local government, interior, and of state for military production. The governors of Suez, Ismailia and Port Said were also present.

At the beginning of the visit, the President reviewed the headquarters of the third field army. President Mubarak then headed for Badr hall where he met with armed forces commanders, officers and soliders.

He unveiled a plaque and was briefed by the commander of the third field army on the design of the hall, which was built on 3,030 square metres and accommodates 1000 persons in its first phase. The second phase would widen the hall to accomodate 1300 persons, Major General Seif Galal Said.

The President later viewed a large plaque at the entrance of the hall, depicting various eras of the armed forces since Pharaonic times.

President Mubarak said that Egypt is for the lawful rights of the Palestinian people and the respect of agreements and resolutions issued by the world community and its institutions which all parties agreed upon as terms of reference for peace, be it in Madrid or in Oslo.

Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif further quoted the President as having said that Egypt, which is playing its role in the peace process, welcomes every role that can further a just and lasting peace.

The President declared himself to be with every Arab President or Head of state who helps for peace to materialize, Sherif said.

Sherif quoted President Mubarak as saying the day when Sinai was liberated and the Egyptian flag was hoisted on its land on April 25, 1983 should be remembered.

The President said that when he assumed power, he was very much concerned with liberating occupied Sinai, which entailed visits by senior Egyptian officials to the United States, Sherif said.

The country was keen on establishing peace and stability in the reigon, the President said, adding that Egypt honours its commitments and pledges.

President Mubarak reiterated that Egypt neither imposes a solution on the Palestinians or the Arabs nor does it sign for them, Sherif reported, adding that the President asserted Egypt's call for withdrawal from the occupied territories, the Golan and Lebanon and for restoring the Palestinians' legitimate rights. President Mubaak recalled the invitation extended to him in 1982 to visit Jerusalem and said his declining to accept it was based on the fact that Jerusalem is a sensitive and controversial issue that should be first settled.

President Mubarak then recalled the problem of Taba in the few days preceding April 25 some 15 year ago, and his resolve that Egypt must never cede any of its national soil, Sherif said.

"As Egypt's President and as an Egyptian I could not possibly give up even an inch of Egyptian soil," President Mubarak said, adding that Egypt fully retook its land by war, negotiation and international arbitration.

He continued by explaining that the Egyptian armed forces engaged in the October war and emerged crowned with victory for the nation. Egypt then succeeded in capping its victory by restoring Taba through international arbitration.

The Information Minister said President Mubarak reviewed the question of peace and the difficult stage it has been through since the Likud government came to power in Israel.

The statements made during the Israeli elections campaign and subsequent months created a climate of no-confidence in public opinion in reaching a just solution for the Palestinian issue, the President said.

He was further quoted by Sherif as having stressed that the issue constitutes the core of the conflict in the Middle East, and currently forms the cornerstone in endeavours made for reaching a just and overall peace in the region.

President Mubarak, citing contacts and meetings involving Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US senior officials, said that they were all aimed at rescuing the Mideast peace process but that Israel's failure to commit to signed agrements always pushed matters to a dead end.

Asserting Egypt's sustained efforts to establish peace in the region, President Mubarak faulted Israeli officials for thinking that Egypt should adopt their views and then convince others of such views. Egypt backs the agreements and resolutions secured by the international community and its institutions, added the President.

"For those who do not know Egypt's role, I tell them to learn their lesson from history that Egypt's role is dictated by a sense of responsibility," he said.

President Mubarak expounded to army leadership and officers that Egypt's role envisages the activation of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks on Hebron and redeployment.

Egypt also welcomes every role conducive to making headway on the path towards just peace, President Mubarak said, adding that the issue is not a monopoly of one party to the exclusion of other parties and that Egypt supports every Arab leader who seeks to realise peace.

President Mubarak stressed that Egypt has no ambition in Palestinian land and said he had rejected a proposal on returning the Gaza strip under Egyptian supervision.

On Jerusalem, President Mubarak said he had advised Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu that Jerusalem has a special status and should be put off for the final-status talks to deal with because it concerns the whole Islamic world.

"Raising the question of Jerusalem today turned it from being a mere Israeli-Palestinian issue to a cause for the whole Islamic world. Resolutions on this issue had been taken by the Islamic (OIC) summit in Islamabad and the Jerusalem Committee in Rabat," President Mubarak said. "Such resolutions have put the Palestinian leader in a situation where he cannot unilaterally take a decision on such a sensitive and multi-dimensional question," the President noted.

He warned that the peace march is today passing through a grave bend, with all roads deadlocked because of Israeli policies. He said that there is no solution for this except through stopping constructions in Eastern Jerusalem.

President Mubarak urged Israel to find an appropriate formula for getting out of the crisis gripping the Middle East and asserted that peace is in the interests of all the peoples of the region, Arabs and Israelis alike.

On the 'Lebanon-first' proposal, President Mubarak said it was an offer both lacking in intelligence and opening the door wide before uncalculated risks of violence and aggression. Syria itself has refused this proposal, he said.

On the reported agreement between the Sudanese regime and opposition factions, President Mubarak said it failed to include the mainstream political forces represented by the Ummah party, the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Egypt wants Sudan to be able to stand once more on its own feet and slough off the gangs of terrorism that are trading in Islam, he added.

On the economic situation in Egypt, President Mubarak tackled the economic reform drive that was launched 15 years ago with the 1982 economic conference. He said economic reforms began to take a serious turn in 1991 with a view to establishing a strong infrastructure as a launching pad for comprehensive and integrated development.

No investment, agricultural or industrial development or advancement in the basic services of education, health and housing, could ever materialise without an infrastructure capable of shouldering such edifices, the President said.

President Mubarak praised the government of Premier Dr. Kamal El-Ganzouri, whom he said is endowed with a vast economic experience, for initiating a new stage in attacking economic problems in 1996.

President Mubarak said economic reform in Egypt is different from other reform programmes in Asia, Latin America or elsewhere in the third world, in that the Egyptian project takes into consideration the social dimension and adopts a gradualist approach aimed at sparing the ordinary citizen burdens beyond their limited resources.

Responding to a query that some opposition newspapers have gone against the grain, President Mubarak was adamant on maintaining the freedom of the press. Conceding the occasional lapse, President Mubarak said such transgressions are dealt with by the press itself.

On the negative effect some press stories and handling have on Egypt's relations with sisterly or friendly countries, President Mubarak called on the press never to lose sight of the values and principles governing their work and to heed the national sentiments of those countries and the feelings of Egyptian nationals living in those countries.

Replying to a question on press reports on the Nile water, President Mubarak said that Egypt has good relations with all the Nile basin countries and that it is well aware of the water issue.
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