Mubarak says Peace backs chances of development
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 5/3/2000

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday described the joint statement by the UN Security Council five permanent members on full elimination of nuclear weapons and a treaty on nuclear disarmament as an affirmation of the 1991 six-point Egyptian initiative, an Egyptian statement said.

"The aim is to render the Middle East free from all nuclear weapons, achieve peace and pave the way for implementing development plans," President Mubarak said in statements to Al-Gomhuria.

Mubarak underlined that peace, Egypt's strategic option, gave room for establishing a strong economy and carrying out a steady, continued and clear economic reform.

Mubarak said that Egypt's financial and credit policies are flexible and governed by market mechanisms, noting that they serve economic objectives and bid to realize stability in policies.

Commenting on the big countries' pledge to work for eliminating nuclear weapons, Al-Gomhuria Editor-in-Chief congratulated President Mubarak on his victory in the campaign against weapons of mass-destruction.

According to Ragab, the people of the world who yearn for peace and security should also be optimistic, especially after the Big Five - the US, Russia, France, the UK and China - pledged on Monday to eliminate nuclear weapons. This is nothing but a strong response to President Mubarak's initiative on July 4, 1991 when he called upon countries exporting weapons - along with Israel, the Arab countries and Iran - to urge the Security Council to declare the Middle East an area free of the weapon of mass-destruction.

Egypt also called upon weapon-exporting countries and member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to intensify their efforts to persuade all Middle Eastern countries to join the NPT.

In May 1995, the NPT international conference endorsed a resolution outlining measures necessary for eliminating such weapons in the Middle East. The conference also invited non-member states to step forward and sign the Treaty.

Over the past few years President Mubarak has, furthermore, been keen to stress the values of his initiative during his meetings with world leaders and at the international conferences he attended.

President Mubarak's efforts were crowned following the announcement on Monday of the latest statement, which included 23 key points. The statement sharply criticized Israel for its refusal to sign the NPT.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak to Al-Ghomhoria: Egypt would never give up its peace drive   (5/2/2000)
  President Mubarak to make an address on occassion of Sinai liberation Anniversary   (4/24/2000)
  Mubarak receives US Congress delegation   (4/24/2000)

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