Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has reiterated in a speech described by local press as “historical” Egypt’s call for a solution to the Middle East conflict as a prerequisite for a plan to rid the world of terrorism for ever.
In his speech before a joint session of the parliament and the Shura council, Mubarak stressed that Egypt stand shoulder by shoulder with the US and its allies in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, but said that the US should avoid striking civilians and should not expand its anti-terrorist campaign to other states in the region.
The statement came amid US reiteration that the war in Afghanistan in only the first step to eradicate terrorism in the entire world.
The US has added groups like the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hizbollah to its list of terrorist organizations, a decision which has triggered more protests as well as fears in the regions that countries like Syria would be targeted by the anti-terror campaign.
Iraq, Somalia and Yemen are potential targets in the campaign, which would last for years, according to US officials’ statements. .
"We support the right of the United States to respond to the terrorist operations and to punish their perpetrators, but we say at the same time that the punishment should not include innocent persons," Mubarak told deputies, as quoted by AFP.
He also reaffirmed that "the American response should not be expanded to any state of the Middle East that is not linked" to the attacks of September 11.
Mubarak said that "the eradication of terrorism necessitates the elimination of centers of tension in the world and particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," to which the origins of terrorism are "linked in one manner or another."
US President George W Bush said this week that the anti-terror war would go on whether there is, or there is not peace in the Middle East.
"I sincerely advise Israel to reconsider its policy and practices, which cannot be beneficial to anyone, especially the people of Israel, who aspire, like all people, to a safe and stable life," said Mubarak, who left Egypt later Saturday for talks in Abu Dhabi with his Emirati counterpart on "international efforts to eradicate terrorism."
Those aspirations "cannot be realized by current Israeli policies, which flow from the totally unjustified conviction that the rights of Israelis have supremacy over the rights of Arabs, and that Israel can impose its will on the Palestinian people, taking advantage of the distraction of the rest of the world by other problems and challenges."
"The Palestinian people will not give in; it will continue to fight and to resist, and will not allow any Israeli interference in its sovereignty over the Arab part of Jerusalem and the Muslim and Christian holy sites" there, Mubarak added.
The Egyptian president also said "it would be better for Israel to withdraw from the Golan (Heights, which it occupied from Syria in 1967 and later annexed) and from the part of Lebanon that it still occupies."
That was a reference to the Shabaa Farms, also captured from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and now claimed by Lebanon, which said it was granted the farms by its neighbor.
Meanwhile, Mubarak said he was continuing contacts with regional and world leaders in an effort to "relaunch the peace process," expressing hope that they will lead to "concrete results in the coming weeks."
He also renewed his appeal for an international conference under the auspices of the UN to "conclude an international anti-terrorist agreement.” – Albawaba.com
