Apr  3, 2001

Mubarak to “Globe”Newspaper:
Negotiations only way to halt violence

    In statements on Tuesday to the "Globe" newspaper, President Mubarak said that President George Bush Administration's attempt to convince Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to urge Palestinians to denounce violence was futile, pointing out that President Arafat could not ask the Palestinians to do that.

    Asked about Arafat’s silence vis-à-vis acts of violence, Mubarak said "I don't defend Arafat but I can express my feelings towards him and it is difficult to stop violence because violence has no mechanism for starting or stopping it...Palestinians are human beings."

    On US-Israeli relations, President Mubarak said he received reports from Washington that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged US Congress members, during his visit to Washington last month, not to appropriate any part of the US aid to provide Egypt with weapons, pointing out that Sharon denied such reports.

    President Mubarak expected that the US aid to Egypt would remain unchanged.

    As for the Iraqi issue, discussed during the Arab summit held in the Jordanian capital Amman last month, President Mubarak said that no progress was made on the Iraqi question.

    President Mubarak called for easing sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people to allow them to travel outside the country and live in normal conditions.