Posted on 10/17/2001 6:49:34 AM PDT by CommiesOut
| Egypt says U.S. genuinely backs Palestinian state | |
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CAIRO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
said he believed U.S. support for a Palestinian state was
genuine, and called for the quick resumption of peace talks to
establish the state and combat related violence.
Asked whether he thought recent statements by U.S. President
George W. Bush backing the creation of a Palestinian state were
credible, Mubarak told Wednesday's issue of leading Egyptian
weekly al-Mussawar: "I think Bush will keep his promise."
Bush last week gave his strongest support to date for the
creation of a Palestinian state and said his backing depended on
the start of a peace process outlined by the Mitchell report
which calls for a ceasefire and confidence-building measures.
Some critics have questioned Bush's sincerity, saying he was
just trying to win Arab and Muslim support for his war on
terrorism and strikes against Afghanistan.
Mubarak said the West had to take serious steps to help
solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict swiftly to uproot sources
of terrorism and prove the current strikes were not part of a
clash between the West and Islamic states.
He said resuming peace talks would "convince people and
affirm that the West is not working against Islam and is not
making false promises to stall for time".
Referring to attempts by Osama bin Laden, the top suspect in
last month's attacks in the United States, to link his campaign
to the Palestinian cause, Mubarak said the Saudi-born militant
might be hijacking the issue to gain Arab and Islamic backing.
"We don't know that bin Laden or any of his group's members
were previously concerned with the Palestinian case. This may be
the first time these people speak about the Palestinians because
they have found in this case a possible aid to win over Arab and
Islamic public opinion," he said.
Most Arab countries have denounced the September 11 attacks
on U.S. cities, but many in the region have voiced concern that
the U.S.-led military campaign against bin Laden and his hosts
in Afghanistan would expand to include Arab targets.
"I don't think the United States will be forced to resort to
military procedures in the Middle East against Syria, or Libya,
or Lebanon," Mubarak said.
"I've told President Bush that attacking Syria and Lebanon
and Libya will...worsen the matter and increase anger in the
Arab world, and I don't think he will do it."
Mubarak made no reference to Iraq or Sudan, both on a U.S.
list of countries it says support terrorism and both previous
targets of U.S. attacks.
((Cairo newsroom, +202 578 3290/1, fax +202 574 7078,
cairo.newsroom@reuters.com))
17 OCT 2001 12:56:57 These people lived here until 1948 and they, too, deserve a homeland. With modern warfare Israel's "excuse" for the need of a "buffer zone" no longer holds water. Time will tell if this will work but it's time to try something different.
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