President Mubarak has been always keen on pinpointing the significance of spreading peace and security throughout Africa and the importance of the role of its citizens so as to maintain its security, reminding its leaders of the necessity of exerting their utmost so as to reach a peaceful settlement for the existing disputes among neighbouring countries within the framework of a peaceful dialogue and away from violence and external interferences that affect security, stability and welfare of peoples besides deepening disputes and planting hatred and grudge instead of love and solidarity.

 

In order to realize Egypt's target of supporting pillars of political stability in Africa, Egypt played a significant role in Namibia peace talks until realizing its independence during President Mubarak's chairmanship of the 25^th session of the Organization of African Unity.

 

Egypt was also among the leading countries that established diplomatic relations with Namibia after its independence. It participated in its independence ceremonies. President Mubarak who attended the event, said "…Egypt will pursue its efforts so as to build the new state in Namibia and end up the apartheid in South Africa…".

On the other hand, during his presidency of the OAU in its 25^th and 29^th sessions, President Mubarak has played great efforts to maintain peace and security in the South African region. This can be summarized as follows:-

 

- Egypt Participated in issuing Harari Declaration, August 1989 - during its presidency of the South African Committee that branched from the Organization of African Unity was established in 1985, and encompassed 13 African countries including Egypt.

 

- In November 1993, Egypt hosted the most significant symbols of political power in South Africa so as to ensure solidarity among its leaders and the birth of new South Africa free from racial discrimination.

 

- Egypt called for the unity and integrity of South Africa territories as well as realizing democracy and undergoing general elections in April 1994.

 

- Egypt participated with 50 observers in the presidential elections of South Africa. The first South African President Nilson Mandela expressed his appreciation for the role played by Egypt in supporting the democratic experiment in South Africa Besides, President Mubarak stressed that Egypt shares South Africa in its aspirations for "…Turning South Africa to be a democratic country that respects the right of every citizen to participate in governance regardless of his colour or race; and respects the right of majority to choose and decide its fate like other peoples and nations...".

As Egypt was the first country to call for establishing the African dispute resolving mechanism which was established and fully supported by Egypt during her chairmanship to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), 1993. Egypt had previously participated in the African General Staff Conference in Addis Ababa, June 1956 where she called for establishing a permanent operation centre for early alert against African disputes and supported the political efforts for facing crises and not providing any weapons for any of the disputing parties.

 

Moreover, Egypt had also participated in all the African non-governmental efforts for resolving disputes.

 

As the OAU had turned to be the African Federation, a new mechanism for resolving disputes was established instead of the dispute resolving, management and prevention mechanism. Such a mechanism was presented in establishing the African Peace and Security Council which Egypt had agreed and ratified its protocol on January 25, 2005. Moreover, Egypt held the chairmanship of this council during December 2006 where she discussed various current African issues, on top of which are Darfour crisis, the status in Somalia and Cote D'ivoire and the Sudanese-Chadian relations.

 

Egypt had also proposed her special initiative concerning a coordination and consultation mechanism between the African Peace and Security Council and the international Security Council so as to create frameworks for coordination and consultation on three levels: First: between  both councils through many steps including convening a fixed annual meeting in September. Second: between the UN and the African Federation secretariat for consultation and coordination on the administrative levels, thus completing the cooperation framework which the chairman of the African Federation Commissioner and the UN Secretary General had signed. Third: between the Peace and Security Council and the Peace Building Committee.  

Since he assumed office, President Mubarak has been keen on good relations of neighborhood among the African nations. He exerted much efforts to contain disputes; amongst them were:

 

1- He mediated between Senegal and Mauritania, during his term of chairmanship of the 25^th session of the OAU (1989-1990), to contain the dispute arose between them in April 1989, through his call for opening channels of dialogue and understanding. On July 24-27, 1989, President Mubarak chaired the six-way committee formed by the African Summit to settle the dispute. In September 1989, he travelled to Mauritania then to Senegal to promote a reconciliation between the two countries. The Egyptian leader sought to fulfill certain targets:

- Containing the dispute to ensure its non-escalation through convincing both parties that negotiation was the most effective means of peaceful settlement of disputes.

 

- Diminishing the two countries' dispute to prevent foreign powers from fomenting sedition and disunion between Arabs and Africans.

 

- Securing the citizens' of each party living in the other's country.

 

The Egyptian mediation and President Mubarak's mission succeeded in solving and containing the crisis, and convinced the both parties to sit at the negotiations table.

 

2- In the same 25^th session, President Mubarak contained the borders crises between Senegal and Guinea Bissao, and between Mali and Burkina Fasso.

 

3- Egypt participated in the UN mission to supervise the self-determination referendum in the Sahara Region in the Western Desert in 1992. It had the status of military observer.

 

4- Egypt hosted the African Summit that declared the establishment of a machinery for preventing, managing and settling disputes in Africa in June 1993. It was called Cairo Declaration. In December 1993, Cairo hosted a mini summit that endorsed the machinery, and Egypt had a major role in providing the necessary funding for its operation. It was called the Peace Fund.

 

5- Egypt had and still has an effective role in the national reconciliation in Somalia, as:

 

A- It hosed a conference on the Somalese national reconciliation in Cairo in December 1990.

 

B- It contributed to the peacekeeping forces with 1670 members, and welcomed Addis Ababa conference results in January and March 1993. In October 1993, Cairo hosted an international conference on the Somalese Question.

 

C- During Egypt's chairmanship of the OAU 29^th session, it hosted in March 1994, a conference on the Somalese national reconciliation, and in May 1997 it hosted a conference on peace in Somalia.

 

D- Due to Egypt's concern with the Horn of African, it joined several committees of the IGAD Partners Forum as an observer. It also supported Nairobi Agreement on national reconciliation in 2004, as a step towards achieving stability in Somalia, and expressed its support for President Abdullah Youssef.

 

E- Egypt was keen on participating in the meetings of Somalia committee affiliated to the Arab League held in Khartoum in June 2006. It effectively contributed to the success of the first meeting between the transitional government and Union of Islamic Courts after the sorrowful events taken place in Somalia.

 

F- On the 1^st of April 2007, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit sent urgent messages to the UN Secretary-General, Chief of African Unity Commission, and the Arab League Secretary-General, calling for an immediate interference to cease fire, and pointing out that the existence of foreign forces in Somalia without the approval of the Somali people would complicate the situation.

 

6- Egypt attaches major importance to the situation in Sudan, as its security and stability is part of Egypt's national security. This is confirmed by President Mubarak's saying: "This sensitive area is no need of any new hotbeds of tension".

 

 Therefore, over a full year (2004-2005), Egypt hosted several Sudanese reconciliation conferences between the Sudanese government and the Democratic National Gathering that resulted in signing the Sudanese National Reconciliation Agreement in Sharm El-Shiekh on June 18, 2005, where it was attended by President Mubarak who said: "…The spirit of Cairo Agreement, and before it Naivasha Agreement should be a source of inspiration for persistent endeavours to work out a peaceful solution to Darfur crisis, which we all look forward to settle through comprehensive and just accords within true African framework that fulfills the dreams and aspiration of the Sudanese citizen for peace, development and prosperity. I am fully confident that the peace course among our brothers in the south of the valley will proceed. We all have hope that it prevails in Darfur and all over Sudan…".

 

Egypt is paying a special attention to Darfur problem since its inception in the mid of 2004, for working out a peaceful solution to the crisis, within the framework of maintaing the integrity of Sudan, without imposing any sanctions on it, as well as supporting the African Union's efforts and terminating the suffering of its people. That was through ceaseless consultations with the Sudanese government, almost daily, to contain the consequences of such security and human situation represented in:

 

A- Egypt dispatched many delegations to Darfur to get acquainted with the human conditions there.

B- It sent several medical teams and missions as of August 13, 2004, where five Egyptian planes carrying medical and human reliefs arrived there.

C- Egyptian officers and soldiers participate in African peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

D- Egypt supported all the peaceful solution efforts and followed up, through its ambassador to Nigeria, Abuja negotiations that began on 23/8/2004, and attended the Five-Way Summit held in Libya on 17/10/2004, which stressed the rejection of any foreign intervention in Darfur for being a pure African issue.

E- President Mubarak told the Six-Way Summit in Tripoli on May 16, 2005 that "…The successive developments in Darfur on both the human and security levels necessitate more support of the international community for the African Union, to enable it play its leading and fundamental role in solving the crisis…". He added that "…Egypt, within its keenness on handling the issue within the framework of the AU, believes that any foreign intervention or internationalization of the crisis will complicate it…".

 

Out of the principle of the respect of state sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, President Mubarak affirmed in 24^th French Summit held in France in February 2007, that Egypt maintained its contacts with all parties concerned in Darfur to encourage them join Abuja Agreement and enter into a dialogue with the Sudanese government, in a way it will lead to a comprehensive national reconciliation similar to the agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The President stressed that regional security in this area is coherent, and cooperation is a must in addressing the problems of the three countries: Sudan, Chad and Central Africa. He asserted that the implementation of Cannes Declaration on Darfur and the borders triangle would depend on rebuilding confidence among those three countries. He called for initiating a dialogue between the government and the people of Darfur, because they all live in one homeland.

 

6- In appreciation of the role of President Mubarak in solving the African problems, Ethiopia requested, at the end of 2004, Egypt's mediation in solving its dispute with Eritrea.         

 

1- Egypt, through its membership took part in the Ten-Way Committee formed by the extraordinary session of the African Ministerial Council in Addis Ababa, September 5-10, 1964, in warding off the separatist movements in the Democratic Congo (formerly Zaire).

It was represented in:

 

A- During Shaba crises (1977-1978), Egypt stood by the Congolese authorities by sending 60 military trainers and some symbolic and reconnaissance forces.

B- As the situation exploded in November 1996, and battles grew fiercer in Congo, Egypt adopted several stances:

- It called upon all the conflicting parties to solve the existing problems through peaceful means.

- It rejected dragging the Great Lakes region to an arms race, and sufficed with providing humanitarian aid only so as to heal the rift and narrow the space of conflict.

- Egypt participated in the meetings of the African Disputes Settlement Mechanism held in Lome on 26/3/1997, to discuss the crisis in Congo.

 

2- Egypt stood by the central government in Nigeria in warding off the separatist movement in Biavra region (May 1967-January 1970), by providing it with pilots and equipments, hence terminating the separatist movement in January 1970.

 

3- Out of Egypt's keenness on the stability of the Great Lakes region, it payed major attention to the situation in Burundi after the escalation of ethnic violence in the wake of the military coup d'état on 25/6/1996. It sent an official mission, headed by Assistant-Foreign Minister for African Affairs in January 1997 to the countries of the Lakes Region, in order to back the efforts exerted to restore security and stability to the region, and keep its distance from away conflicts and tensions that jeopardize the interests of the Nile Basin countries. That was the reason behind Egypt's hosting of the first summit of the heads of state of the Great Lakes in November, 1995.

 

 

President Mubarak stresses the seriousness of terrorism and organized crime. He says: "Our African societies suffered from horrors of terrorism long time ago. Some due to political problems that were unjustly settled, and others to the increasing intensity of our continent's chronic problems; such as poverty, debts, food and unfair trade rules, which all led to the emergence of the forces of extremism feeded by the feelings of frustration and despair against the forces of moderation based on human communication assumed to be strengthened among nations and peoples".

 

He didn't disregard the continent's endeavours in combating terrorism. He says: "Our self-regional efforts in Africa resulted in the implementation of the OAU Anti Terrorism Treaty by the end of 2002. we started discussing the best technique in pursuing effectively the implementation of its provisions. At the same time, the constituent document of the AU has clearly stipulated the rejection of terrorism and extremism as one of the essentials of our regional work and the principles that govern our endeavours for peace, stability and development".

 

He hasn't also disregarded the issue of organized crime and its negative effects on peoples and countries. He says: "Many African countries still suffer from the activities of the organized crime gangs which threaten their economy, obstruct development efforts and affect their political, economic and social systems. What makes their danger growing is the cooperation with some international terrorism activities that created a state of confusion on the attitudes of the African countries towards combating terrorism".

 

President Mubarak has mostly linked the prevailance of poverty and poor rates of development to terrorism. He says: ".. Poverty is the worst kind of terrorism; rich countries must undertake an actual development in the African countries. If they lagg behind, I am sure that the war of terrorism taking place now, may develop after several years to a war of terrorism in the whole world. The Earth will not be safe. This is a very important point that rich and major industrialized countries should be aware of".

   

Out of Egypt's commitment to respect the international legitimacy rules, maintain good relations with all parties of the conflict without causing any complications, President Mubarak's assertion that Egypt is a state of peace which never support either war nor the proliferation of mass destruction weapons and the aim of the Egyptian peacekeeping forces is to maintain peace, as president Mubarak said "We always seek to participate in the peacekeeping forces out of our conviction in this fact, and we believe that there would be no welfare nor a stable life for people without peace", Egypt participated in the peacekeeping missions in Africa under the umbrella of the United Nations, among these participations:

 

1- Participating in the peacekeeping force with two paratroopers companies grouping 258 personnel in Congo during the civil war from 1960-61.

 

2- Participating in the peacekeeping force in Somalia with one infantry battalion grouping 240 personnel during the period from December 1992 till May 1993 in the Operation Restoration of Hope. During the period from May 1993 till February 1995 the number of the Egyptian forces reached 1680 personnel including three infantry battalions which were committed to protect Mogadishu airport and train the Somali police elements.

 

3- During the period from June 1998 till March 2000, Egypt sent an infantry company consisting of 125 personnel, an administrative and medical unit with 294 persons under the United Nations mission to keep peace in Central Africa.

 

4- Egypt participated in peacekeeping force in Angola with 28 military observers from 1991 to 1999.

 

5- Egypt participated in Mozambique with 20 military observers during the period from February 1993 to June 1995.

 

6- It also Participated with 15 military observers in Liberia during the period from  December 1993 to September 1997.

 

7- It also participated with 10 military observers in Rwanda.

 

8- Egypt participated in Comoros with three observers in 1997-1999.

 

9- Egypt still contributes with its troops in many African countries, salient of which:

 

A- Some 19 military observers in Western Sahara since September 1991 till now.

B- Nine military observers in Sierra Leone since September 1998 till now

C- Egypt participates with 28 military observers in Democratic Congo since November 1999 and it was supported by signal company consisting of 110 personnel.

D- Eight military observers in Liberia since December 2003 till now.

E- Two military observers in Burundi since September 2004 till now.

 

10- The Egyptian force was in the forefront of the peacekeeping forces in Darfur, Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict. In August 2004, it send 34 military observers and three senior officers along with the protection forces affiliated to the African Union in Darfur. Moreover, Egypt participates in the United Nations mission in Sudan with 1046 personnel.

 

In order to support the peace efforts in the continent, Egypt established one of the most important regional centers for regional training on maintaining peace operations. It is Cairo Center for Training on Solving Conflicts and Maintaining Peace in Africa.

 

The center was established in 1995 to train about 200 students annually from the French, English and Portuguese spoken-languages in order to enhance cooperation and interaction between the language and cultural groups in Africa.

 

In addition, the center cooperates closely with the African Union to prevent disputes and also with a number of peacekeeping institutions including "Person Peacekeeping Center ".

Egypt, also, hosted a number of workshops, seminars and training courses especially that implemented by Britain concerning peace keeping operations in Africa as well as the participation of Interior Ministry in the civil police forces of the UN peacekeeping missions.

 

Since mid of the 60s, Egypt has played a key role in the issue of making Africa a free nuclear arms zone. This contributed powerfully to issue Cairo Official Declaration on establishing a free nuclear arms zone in Africa upon a resolution taken at the first ordinary session of AOU summit in Cairo, 1964.

 

President Mubarak's initiative in 1990 to make Africa and the Middle East free from nuclear arms and mass destruction weapons received a great response, and as a result of it, a resolution was issued by 31^st African Summit in  Addis Ababa, June 1995 which considered the ME security a part and parcel of the African Continent. Due to President Mubarak's wisdom and his pursuance in order to achieve peace, security and stability, he made Egypt hosting the conference of making Africa a free neculear arms zone on April 11, 1996.

 

On this occasion, President Mubarak says:

 

"The African Continent has taken another prominent step and set the example for the world Continents and its various communities where it celebrates the signing of a treaty which represents a tangible achievement to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms on the regional and international levels. It comes in a time there is a public rejection of nuclear arms. The human civilitization surpassed the period that the countries compete to achieve its security and pride through possession of the most destructive weapons. Now, the nations' power is determined through its sciences, progress and capability to compete in production and reconstruction fields".

 

   

 

Egypt closely follows the issue of refugees in the world and Africa in particular, especially after the aggravation of the problem since 1993, which resulted in about seven million refugees, and more than 20 million homeless, due to famines, ethnical conflicts in the continent. Egypt exerted strenuous efforts to address this issue:

 

* Egypt is the first African country that participated in the Geneva Convention on Refugees, signed in 28/7/1951, then came into force in April 1954 and the 1967 protocol. Egypt is also a member of the Refugee Convention issued by the Organization of African Unity in 1969.

 

* Egypt participated actively in the first and second conferences to help African refugees held in Geneva in 1981 and 1984. It offered more than five L.E million including missions, medical aid to alleviate the suffering of refugees.

 

* In 1984, the Egyptian People's Assembly endorsed the human and African peoples human rights conventions.

 

* Egypt lodged a proposal, during its chairmanship of the Organization of African Unity from 1989 to 1990, to resolve the refugees issue, based on providing support to the hosting countries and the countries they come from.

 

* Egypt hosts thousands of refugees, especially those coming from the Horn of Africa and facilitate means of study and residence despite the pressure on services and utilities due to the big number of refugees in Egypt that reached four million from 28 countries. For example: more than 26 thousand Sudanese refugees in addition to the residents who work in Egypt and have family relations, including about 10 thousand from Darfur, the rest from east and south Sudan. There is also an unknown number of Somalese refugees. Indicators showed that the number of those who are registered in the Refugee Commission doesn't exceed 10 percent of the actual number.

 

* Egypt made proposals to open a dialogue with the donor countries to get assistances to refugees and their hosting countries.