Sharon's election is an internal matter
Egypt-Israel, Politics, 2/7/2001

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, in his first comment on the election of Ariel Sharon as Israeli Premier, Wednesday said this is a decision adopted by the Israeli people and we respect their decision.

At the same time he expressed hope for resuming the peace process and for bringing it back on the right track despite the fact that Sharon`s recent statements were not encouraging.

In statements to chief editors of Egyptian newspapers and press men on board the plane bringing him back home from Kuwait on Wednesday, President Mubarak said anyway we have to wait and see and we should not anticipate matters or make premature judgement.

He voiced hope for seeing a move in the right direction on the peace path.

President Mubarak said that the telephone call he received from US President George W. Bush on his way to Tunisia concentrated on the necessity to pacify the situation in the Middle East and bar any possible explosions.

This reflects the keenness of the new US administration to contain the volatile situation in the region, said Mubarak.

President Mubarak said he assured Bush that Egypt will not spare any efforts to maintain stability and calmness via establishment of a fair peace.

Mubarak pointed out to Bush that the efforts of pacification do not only confine to Egypt but rather and mainly depend on the conduct of the Israeli side.

Mubarak said that he knows US Vice-President Dick Cheney very well and likewise the State Secretary Colin Powell whom he said he had met many times.

The President said the visit to be paid to Egypt this month by Powell will pose a good opportunity to exchange more views.

Although the attitude of the new US administration to the Middle East issue is still not yet known, the Bush administration is in principle against the policy of violence and threats of using force as far as the Middle East is concerned, said Mubarak.

Mubarak said his tours in the Arab countries are aiming to clear the Arab waters and activate orientation to a common Arab market.

The Arab leaders agreed to have the first regular summit in Cairo but, unfortunately, matters took a different course and we have to respect and maintain this principle, said Mubarak.

He emphasised the necessity to render Amman Summit a success.

On whether his talks in Tunisia and Kuwait addressed the threats that might face the forthcoming Arab summit, mainly the Iraqi-Kuwaiti tension, Mubarak said when he received Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan in Cairo he received on the same day Kuwaiti Parliamentary Speaker Jasim Al-Kharafy.

President Mubarak said that Kuwait is worried from the hostile statements being released in Baghdad, adding that he understood from Ramadan that Iraq is seeking a mediation from Arab brothers to tone down the tension with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

That is why I talked to him (Ramadan) frankly and said that the statements in Baghdad do not help ease the situation, added Mubarak.

Mubarak said the trade agreement with Iraq does not mean that Egypt has changed its stances or tilted from its principles for whatever reasons.

In his statements to the Egyptian chief editors aboard the plane that carried them on their way back from Tunisia to Cairo, Mubarak talked about the domestic affairs, economy, the Dollar crisis and the political party performance.

President Mubarak voiced belief that the economic situation is seeing a marked improvement.

He said he is following up the step-by-step progress being made in this field, noting that occassional stumbling is not only experienced by Egypt.

He said that there are short-term, medium-term and long-term plans to improve the economic situation and overcome the current crisis.

"As for the dollar issue", said Mubarak, "there are no longer room for manipulations, statements or cheating practices".

He added that the dollar issue has been radically resolved and violations of the relevant rules that have been set are no longer allowed.

Mubarak cited a number of obstacles that have been hampering continued progress of economy. On top of these facts is the huge population growth which create many problems that need immediate solution such as the necessary creation of more than 933,000 job a year.

"This means that an amount of 2.5 billion pound should be added to the budget to cater for this demand", said Mubarak, "adding that this amount will multiply within five years to 15 billions a year".

Muabrak noted that LE 30 billion are now being allocated to find more jobs.

He voiced hope the tourist revenues would be increased over the next five years from $ 5.5 billion now to 10 billions.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt deals with Israeli institutions, not individuals   (2/3/2001)

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