July  15, 2002

Assiyassah chief editor: Mubarak, key Arab leader, original thinker

President Hosni Mubarak said he has resisted a temptation by American Congressmen to receive the Noble Peace Prize if he would visit Jerusalem to defuse the current crisis.

    In an interview to be published in Monday's edition of Kuwait's Assiyassah newspaper, the President revealed that during his June visit to the US American Congressmen tempted him with the Noble Peace Prize if he visited Israel, but he told them that such a visit would be aimless and futile.

    "I refuse a visit with no aim, no outcome, no vision or final settlement that guarantees the rights (of Palestinians), he told the paper's Chief Editor Ahmed Al Jarallah.

    "There can be no visit while Palestinian lands are suffering occupation, killing and bloodshed," he affirmed.

    "His visit to the US came at the invitation of its President George Bush after they exchanged several messages and he expounded the real situation in the region," he said.

    "Israel, exploiting the occasion, claimed that he and Bush had decided on delegating Arafat," Mubarak added.

    Dismissing the reports as "a lie," he said that on the contrary, he told Bush that it would be dangerous to harm or oust Arafat.

    "Getting rid of well-experienced Arafat would be a grave mistake, because he enjoys the backing of all Palestinians, at home and abroad," he added.

    Mubarak said that the Americans would be committing another serious blunder if they attacked Iraq.

    Egypt's concern is the Iraqi people and the region cannot take more crises, he said, adding that if the target was Saddam Hussein, the attack may turn him into a hero.

    He further warned that an attack would be a disaster that would create a very difficult situation.

    President Hosni Mubarak said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are very two important Arab countries that formulate the weight point in the Arab world.

    As for the current Arab situation, Mubarak underlined that there was better coordination among the Arab countries regarding the issues of common interest.

    President Mubarak called for realizing inter-Arab economic integration to upgrade the living standard of the Arab citizens and put an end to unemployment.

    On the issue of terrorism and the September 11 events, President Mubarak called upon the US to be more cautious and fair while fighting terrorism to avert a repeat of the same dangerous incidents.

    The Egyptian President went on to say that terrorism became an international phenomenon that had no particular religion or borders.

    President Mubarak said that he had warned against the dangers of terrorism when Egypt was harmed by that phenomenon. "The West did not heed these warnings at the time," said the President.

    President Mubarak also said that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was seeking peace, but that Israel was saying he was not, and spreading rumours about Hizbullah and Palestinian opposition factions.

    It is logical enough to say that if Israel wanted to defuse the situation in Lebanon, it would have to withdrawn from the Lebanese Shebaa Farms so that Hizbullah s acts would stop, said the President.

    Answering a question on the goals of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon, President Mubarak clarified that the Israeli incursions would not settle the issue and that military operations have never put an end to any problem.

    The only way to get out of the current problem is going back to the negotiating table.

    As for internal affairs in Egypt, President Mubarak said that he was keen on the establishment of democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

    Egypt is now passing through an era of political and economic openness, said President Mubarak, noting that he would not allow anyone to tamper with the resources of the Egyptian people.

    President Mubarak further said that all economic decisions were taken with the social dimension in mind, so that the government would keep playing its role in protecting low-income brackets.

    Explaining the economic situation in Egypt, the president said that the Egyptian economy had all aspects of stability, but that Egypt was affected by the international developments and the economic crisis which afflicted the Far East countries in addition to the aftermath of the September 11 events.

    As for Egyptian foreign debt, the president said Egypt is paying its financial commitments on time.

    Asked about relations with the Gulf states, Mubarak said the relations are good and economically not bad but they are supposed to be better and wider for their own interests and ours too, adding "we have to open new vistas for cooperation on the grounds so that our interest become intertwined".

    We want an economic-industrial integration between us and those countries as opportunities are ample and available, said Mubarak, wondering "why our funds are in foreign banks and subject to the exchange rate fluctuations and inflation while profitability is achieved when there is an economic-industrial integration?"

    On voices calling for boycotting the United States and freezing relations with Israel, Mubarak wondered, "what will I boycott and who will boycott?"

    Eventually, boycott is a negative action that might inflict harm upon the national economy, he said, elaborating that "the public interest of the people comes in the first place.

    We import technology from the advanced North in order to achieve aspired progress for our peoples.

    Boycott closes the doors of cooperation and development rests on technology".

    On the oil boycott, President Mubarak said "the oil boycott was useful and effective in the past but we have to consider that the world i6 now different".

    The decision in this respect is up to the benefiting countries in the first place but the advanced world has alternatives now as they developed themselves as far as securing their needs of energy are concerned, he said.

    He elaborated that if oil supplies were cut off, producers' income would be affected and their potentials to develop their economies would grow weak.

    It is important to ask oneself what the impact of boycott on citizens in oil states would be and also on the budgets, economy, interests, bread and butter, projects and national security, he said.

    Asked whether he had sensed fears over some activities in the street that might embarrass his policies and stands and might lure him to adopt emotional attitudes against Israel, President Mubarak said he had no fears over this, adding that demonstrations did not prevent him from conducting his contacts over the Palestinian issue with all parties concerned.

    Mubarak said he verifies any news reports before dealing with them, noting that responsibility entailed wisdom, patience and avoiding excitement.

    He referred to some news reports when Benjamin Netanyahu W8S Israel's premier that Israeli military troops were massing on the Egyptian borders but they were denied by both the Egyptian foreign minister and Netanyahu.

    Netanyahu then told us to verify these allegations ourselves, and in this way it was possible to contain a crisis that could have otherwise erupted had we acted upon those news reports, he said.

    On the demonstrators and whether they had resorted to violence or violated the law, President Mubarak said the demonstrators were not inclined to violence except in Alexandria, where a few persons, incited by some elements, destroyed shop windows and set some university professors' cars on fire.

    People might be mistaken in the beginning but after they understand the reality of the situation they express their opinions without exceeding the limits, he said, adding the students were released in appreciation of their sentiments and good national intentions.

    On his recent visit to the United States, Mubarak said the visit came at the request of US President George W. Bush after exchanging several messages in which I expounded the real situation in the region.

    Israel exploited the occasion to allege that I had agreed with President Bush on removing (Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, said Mubarak, dismissing the news as "lies''.

    He said, "On the contrary, I affirmed to President Bush that it would be dangerous to attempt to remove Arafat and stressed the importance of drawing on his long experience in the coming negotiations".

    On whether Bush tabled the idea of a meeting between president Mubarak and Israeli Prime-Minister Ariel Sharon in the United States, and whether President Mubarak had insisted on Arafat's attendance at such a meeting, he replied that this idea was not offered at all "but I remember that I requested Arafat was the figure concerned in the issue we would be meeting over".

    It seems that there is an old feud between Sharon and Arafat since the 1982 Beirut siege, and perhaps it is affecting their dealing with each other, he said.

    On the Saudi initiative and what was said that it left a little role for Egypt to play, a laughing Mubarak said the whole matter, as he views it, is that some circles are creating problems and propagating differences between the two countries that do not exist.

    Interest in the Palestinian cause is not confined to Egypt: it is the cause of all Arabs.

    In fact, when the Saudi initiative was announced I was asked at a joint press conference with president Bush on the initiative and I answered that it was a very important step as Saudi Arabia was announcing this for the first time, he said.

    Saudi Arabia has offered full normalization in return for full withdrawal, which is a very good thing that must be maintained and when the news reached Saudi Arabia, (Crown) Prince Abdullah phoned me and told me "you've made an initiative out of statements," said Mubarak.

    He added, "Sharon then phoned me and asked me to try to arrange a meeting between him and Prince Abdullah to understand from him the details of this initiative.

    I told him that this was a hard request, but that on my side I would send a message to Prince Abdullah although the initiative was clear and needed no explanations".

    The President further said that during his recent visit to the United Stages some Congressmen tried to tempt him with the Nobel Prize if he complied with their desire and went to Jerusalem to help resolve the crisis.

    The request, however, was strange to me and I rejected a visit that would have no objective, outcome, vision or a final solution that could maintain rights...a visit that would take place while Palestinian territories were still being occupied, a visit that would coincide with continued killing and bloodshed...how are these people thinking? said the President.

    On the means to woo the US to the Arabs' side, Mubarak said in his interview with Assiyasah that Arabs have no lobby in the US but Arab communities there must be invested to form a nucleus for an effective and unified Arab lobby.

    On what Bush wants, Mubarak said he is apparently trying to get closer and to understand the crisis in the Middle East.

    However, said the president, the US policy is not George Bush because there are institutions which are sharing in the decision-making and "we are trying to build bridges of dialogue with all these institutions."

    Mubarak affirmed that overthrowing Arafat will be a great blunder all parties will regret. Arafat with his experience and role is a popular leader for Palestinians inside and outside Palestine, he added.

    Shifting to Syria, Mubarak said President Bashar El Assad is seeking peace but Israel is circulating the otherwise.

    If Israel is really seeking to defuse the situation, it must return Shebaa Farms to Lebanon in order for Hizbullah operations to stop, said Mubarak.

    On the reasons which prompted his no-show at the latest Arab summit in Beirut, Mubarak said he had misgivings about possible attendance of Arafat and Sharon's prevention of his return to Ramallah which would have placed the Arab leaders in a very critical situation.

    "I advised Arafat at that time not to attend unless he receives and authentic guarantee from the US and Israel about his return," said Mubarak.

    "With my absence, I had rescued the Arab nation from a predicament that would have been caused with Arafat's attendance, besides, I declined to attend in order to hush any speculations that might claim that Egypt pressured Arafat to attend," added Mubarak.

    On whether his absence was aimed to avoid meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz, Mubarak laughed and said "Crown Prince Abdullah is my friend, some parties released these rumours and had apparently believed them."

    If every leader was driven by the emotions and inciting, he could take wrong decisions which might bring about dangerous consequences, Mubarak said, noting that war is not a picnic or a game.

    "Matters should be meticulously calculated and international and regional circumstances have to be taken into account," he added.

    September 11 events dictate wise address of the international issues, not by means of violence. Violence begets violence, said the president.

    "The US must be cautious and its acts have to be accurately pre-calculated," he said.

    Mubarak agreed that the September events made from Arabs and Muslims "temporarily" an enemy of the West and that this might lure the huge Arab money capitals abroad back to their homeland.

    He wondered how Arabs are importing 90 percent of their needs while inter-Arab trade accounts only for ten percent of the total Arab trade volume.

    Economic integration is vital and important and it sets the scene for the Arab common market, he added. (Mubarak emphasized that the American will "err" if they attack Iraq).

    "We are concerned first of all about the Iraqi people. The region is already too pregnant with problems and sufferings to tolerate more complication and tension," said the president.

    "If the goal was to topple Saddam Hussein it will in fact turn him into a hero. It will be a tragedy that would create an extremely difficult situation," he noted.

    He said there are some powers which do not want Egypt to prosper or wish it an economic recovery.

    He set the strategic cash reserve of hard currency at $ 14 billion, adding that he ordered the authorities to hold their hands off cash pumping from the reserve.

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