Nov  1, 2001

Mubarak in a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar following their talks in Madrid

    In a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar following their talks in Madrid, Mubarak also advocated the Palestinians' legitimate right to fight occupation. The Palestinian acts of resistance, Mubarak told reporters, should never be branded as terrorism.

    However, he said that despite this right, civilians from both sides should be spared this violence.

    Mubarak, one of the first world leaders to warn against the international phenomenon of terrorism, renewed his call to convene an international conference on terrorism.

    The conference, which Mubarak previously recommended to be held under the United Nations, was necessary to guarantee security for all world.

    "I've been calling for this conference since 1984 without world response. Some countries thought my call was only because Egypt was suffering from terrorism," he said.

    He added that after the September 11 attacks in the US, the conference had become a must. Mubarak said there was mounting world backing to the conference call but the international community was still preoccupied with the aftermath of last month's attacks. "But eventually, this conference should be held and should come with binding agreements," he said.

    Aznar, whose country will hold the European Union's six-month rotating presidency, backed the Egyptian call, adding that the world was currently preoccupied with impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

    However, he disagreed with Arabs backing to Palestinian acts of resistance. Terrorism, the Spanish Premier said, could not be justified and all terrorists should be hunted down and punished.

    Aznar said his talks with Mubarak had covered the situation in the Middle East, ten years after a landmark peace conference in the Spanish capital. He added that the EU, the United States and Russia, which jointly sponsored the Madrid conference, and many Arab countries were intensifying contacts to resume Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

    He said that Madrid backed the establishment of a Palestinian state that would respect Israeli security rights. "We wish all acts of violence would be halted as soon as possible and that's what we are working to achieve," he noted.

    Mubarak said that achieving peace in the Middle East would benefit both Palestinians and Israelis. "When we talk about peace we do not mean the Palestinians alone, but the Israelis and stability of the entire region as well," he told the press conference.

    Unless concrete efforts are made to make peace in the Middle East, "roots of terror may increase from this region".

    "There should be strong efforts from all officials and especially those who support Israel without thinking," Mubarak said.

    "The United States is trying hard and the EU is also trying hard. But I hope all parties would cooperate to push forward the peace process, not through mounting pressure but by convincing both parties that peace is indispensable for the peoples' interests," added the Egyptian leader.

    "We want Israel to live in secure borders. We also want Palestinians to live in secure borders so that Israel can finally become part of this region," he said, adding that all regional countries would not oppose ties with Israel should a just and final solution to the Palestinian issue is reached.

    The Egyptian leader also opposed proposals to convene a new peace conference in the Spanish capital. "A Madrid two means that we cancel the principles of Madrid one, which are the land-for-peace. Tis is what the other party (Israel) hopes," he said.

    Commenting on ongoing US strikes against the Taliban ruling regime in Afghanistan, which refused to hand over Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, Mubarak hoped the strikes would be concluded before the start of the Muslims holy month of Ramadan, starting in mid-November.

    "I hope with all my heart that the campaign is halted before Ramadan starts," Mubarak said.

    Asked how sensible it would be to continue the bombing of Afghanistan during Ramadan given Islamic sensitivities, Mubarak said: "I hope this campaign ends before Ramadan, but in military operations we can't guarantee what the situation will be like on the ground and whether these operations can be stopped in a way that would (not) benefit the other side."

    He also ruled out the possibilities the US would extend strikes to other countries. "This will be against the operation (Enduring Freedom), the coalition and the international public opinion," he said. The Spanish Premier aired a similar view. "There is no intention to expand the battle frontiers or face any Arab or Islamic country. The whole operation is about terrorism," he said.

    Aznar also said he hoped the campaign would be over quickly, but added that it was important to remember that the main goal was to eradicate terrorism. Aznar invited President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on a working luncheon today.

    In a separate development, the Egyptian Middle East News Agency (MENA) disclosed yesterday that the EU had concluded a new initiative to resume Middle east peace talks, suspended since last year's eruption of Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation.

    According to MENA, the new initiative, completely backed by the US and Russia, includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and a complete Arab recognition to Israel and its right to exist.

    Mubarak is in Spain on a visit to attend a conference of Mediterranean states which will take place in the resort of Formentor, on the northern tip of the island of Majorca.

    The conference is to include discussions on political, economic, and socio-economic problems that the region faces from European Union enlargement and will include a special session on the moribund Middle East peace process.

    Mubarak also met King Juan Carlos I of Spain yesterday.

    Earlier, President Mubarak warned in an interview published yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's violent policies towards the Palestinians were inspiring a generation of terrorists who will threaten Israel for years to come.

    "The destruction, bloodbaths, assassinations and violence seem to be the only policies put into practice by Ariel Sharon since he came to power," Mubarak said in the interview with the Spanish daily El Pais.

    The Egyptian leader said images of Palestinian children dying at Israeli hands were stoking anger.

    "The Israeli government is in the process of creating a new generation of terrorists which will be difficult to contain in the future," he said.

    "Innocents are dying, Israelis and Palestinians, and it must be understood that these policies, far from ensuring Israel's security, are taking the country down a very dangerous road."

    Mubarak said the Palestinian issue was a "source of terror" because Muslims all over the world felt enraged when they repeatedly saw images of Palestinians being killed.

    Mubarak said Middle East peace was vital to the security of the entire region, and that any peace deal would have to include a Palestinian state and the acceptance of Israel's right to exist.

    And he issued a warning over the future of Jerusalem, which contains one of Islam's holiest shrines.

    "The Muslims would be able to fight for centuries, but nobody in the Arab or Muslim world will ever accept that these holy places remain under Israeli sovereignty," he said.

    Mubarak urged the United States and the European Union to pressure Israel into changing direction and starting negotiations on a peace deal, and renewed his call for an international conference to combat terrorism.

    "We must adopt a rigorous international convention laying out the rules to follow with terrorist groups. Terrorists should not be able to obtain political asylum, they should be brought immediately before courts and we must shut down their financial operations," he said.

    He criticised the way the world, especially Europe and the US, tackled terrorism from the beginning. After he warned of terrorism as an international phenomenon, the Egyptian leader recalled that many world countries refused to respond, claiming that terrorism was an internal Egyptian issue caused by unemployment and poverty.

    "Poverty exists everywhere in the world, even in Europe and the US. I saw some children in Western European countries scavenging for food in dustbins. Egypt may not be that rich country but at least food does not make a problem for people," he said.

    "Besides, terrorism has nothing to do with poverty. Many of those committing acts of terror are rich," he said, criticising countries harbouring terrorists under the pretext of human rights.

    "You defend human rights for criminals and forget about the rights of their innocent victims," he told the mass-circulated Spanish newspaper.