June  8, 2002

  Mubarak Interview with Los Angeles Times

    President Mubarak said in an interview with Los Angeles Times published Friday that a US plan is pivotal at this troubled juncture of the peace process because Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon are so at odds that they are unable to agree on either the process for starting negotiations or the substance of talks.

    "You can't leave Sharon and Arafat alone to solve the problem," said the Egyptian leader, who will meet with Bush at Camp David in Maryland.

    The Bush administration tried to broker peace negotiations by pulling the two sides toward common ground without proposing its own specific ideas on a political settlement. But Mubarak's message is that this approach will no longer work, the paper said.

    But Mubarak said establishing a timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state offers the only serious prospect for ending the violence that has raged since September 2000.

    Mubarak said "Security alone will not put an end to the violence," he said. "Establishing a (Palestinian) state is a must to give hope to the people that they will have their land and their state. A Palestinian state is the best guarantee for the security of the state of Israel."

    Mubarak cautioned that Arafat alone cannot end the spate of bombings and other attacks that have killed more than 500 Israelis over the last 20 months, especially given recent efforts by the Israeli military to isolate the Palestinian leader.

    President Mubarak said, "You cannot guarantee that Arafat can stop this violence. Believe me, he can't control anything. What kind of tools does he have? He has no tools. He can't move. "He hope (the violence) will stop, but as there are no negotiations going on, people are desperate," he said. "You expect anything at any time," Mubarak added.

    In terms of a timeline for a final settlement, Mubarak suggested that there is some Arab flexibility on an exact date and sensitivity about the potential impact of American peace efforts on the 2004 US Presidential election.

    He said a leading congressional figure told him recently that negotiating a settlement, which is certain to be controversial in some sectors of US society, would be difficult during Bush's first term.

    "Maybe 2004, maybe 2005. But three years from now, I think we should reach a solution," he said. Mubarak indicated that he is pessimistic about prospects of Sharon changing his position. "I don't know whether he will accept anything," he said.

    The Egyptian leader expressed disappointment over reports that Israel is pressing the United States to drop plans to create a political working group --which would include Israelis, Palestinians and moderate Arab officials to continue deliberations after the international conference.

    Mubarak said that during his talks with Bush, he will warn that any military operation aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would only unleash a "hellish" situation throughout the Middle East, breeding more support for extremists and producing more terrorism and violence. And the impact would be just as severe on American allies in the Arab world as on the US, he predicted. "We are all going to suffer" if the administration attacks Iraq, he said.

    The argument that Bush has offered to potentially justify such action that Iraq is a menace because of its weapons of mass destruction-- will not sell well in the Middle East, Mubarak said, because Israel has weapons that are considered a threat to the Arab world. Mubarak said that trying to take on Saddam Hussein's regime before the Mideast peace process is concluded could only backfire.

    The paper said the administration has attempted to separate the two issues, but Mubarak said the Arab world links them closely. Discussing the effort to eradicate the A1 Qaeda terrorist network, Mubarak said Egypt continues to share intelligence information with Washington about extremist threats. He noted that there are still "constant threats'' to the US and its Arab allies.

    On Libya, the Egyptian President said Tripoli's ties to terrorism are now "nearly Zero". He described Colonel Moammar Gaddafi, the Libyan Leader, as "much more moderate."