Mubarak heralds Spain's peace efforts during a meeting with parliament speakers
Egypt-Spain, Politics, 5/30/2000

Egypt and Spain must work together to transform their close relationship from conventional cooperation to creative and effective partnership, President Hosni Mubarak told Congress of deputies Speaker Louisa Rudi and Senate Speaker Esperanza Aguirre.

"I want to address ways of strengthening these ties and to transform them from conventional cooperation to creative and effective partnership that will elevate our bilateral relationship to higher levels," he said.

At a meeting with the two Speakers and 30 MPs on the second day of his state visit, the Egyptian leader praised Spain's special interest in Mideast peace and stability.

Since the Madrid Conference of 1991, Spain has exerted unilateral efforts and contributed to European Union efforts advance the peace negotiations and to establish a just and comprehensive peace on all tracks.

President Mubarak called on Israel to abide by agreements reached under the umbrella of Madrid and to avert policies and practices contradictory to the spirit of peace.

In turn, these policies and practices shake the credibility of the negotiating process, escalate tension, lead to violence and confrontation and waste the historic opportunity to end the conflict and realize full reconciliation and peaceful coexistence in this vital part of the world, he said.

Against this backdrop, there is a pressing need for a more effective European role to protect the present momentum and to salvage the peace process, he added.

"We are confident Spain will multiply its efforts with its partners in the European union, especially that Ambassador (Miguel) Moratinos, the Special European Envoy, enjoys the trust of the parties and a great capability to play an active role," the President said.

President Mubarak recalled Egypt's clear cut stance on Mideast peace, that rests on the principle of land for peace according to Madrid and calls for an end to regional expansionism and settlements construction on Arab land.

It is these concepts and practices that threaten the peace process at its very heart, he said.

An Israel in harmony with efforts to secure a just and comprehensive peace in the region will open the road to tangible progress on the multilateral peace track and spark a new era of stability and security in the region, he added.

Nations of the region will be able to channel their human and financial resources to development and modernization and will be able to participate in regional economic cooperation after decades of tension, sufferings and alienation, he said.

Respectively, all states of the region must respond to Egypt's call to render the middle east a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, foremost nuclear weapons, President Mubarak said.

The continued production and possession of these weapons contravenes with the realization and the protection of peace and shakes the balance of the region, he said.

The majority of world states have endorsed Egypt's call on Israel to eradicate its nuclear weapons programme in the peace phase, that was stated in the final declaration of the NPT Review Conference on May 21 in New York, he added.

It called on Israel for the first time ever to accede to the NPT and to place all its nuclear facilities under the safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said.

Turning to the Mediterranean region, President Mubarak spoke of the importance of reinforcing the Mediterranean dialogue through the Barcelona process and praised Spain's efforts to advance it and its initiative to enhance the Mediterranean aspect of Barcelona.

Egypt follows up with appreciation Spain's interest in the development of its relations with the third world, especially African states, he said.

In this respect, he praised the Spanish efforts in the success of the Africa-Europe summit in Cairo in April and Madrid's decision to write-off $ 800 million in foreign debts of the heavily indebted poor countries.

The decision received a warm welcome from all developing countries that saw in Spain a sincere and dependable partner in development and reconstruction plans, he said.

Egypt seeks Spanish investments in the country to match the level of the close rapprochement between the two countries in various domains and an effective cooperation in the sphere of modern technology, President Mubarak said.

He also called for the development of bilateral trade exchange, saying that it would be difficult to realize if Spanish exports to Egypt continued to stand three times as much as its imports from Egypt.

Concluding, he spoke of the importance of terrorism fighting.

Terrorism has no place in democratic societies, he said.

The time has come to agree on more effective international measures to combat and eliminate terrorism under the umbrella of the United Nations, he added.

Previous Stories:
  El Mundo highlights Mubarak's visit to Spain   (5/29/2000)
  Mubarak grants an interview to 'El Pais' Newspaper   (5/29/2000)
  Mubarak's visit to Spain, historic   (5/29/2000)

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