Arab world needs new vision, thought, mechanism
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 3/22/2001

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, describing the current Arab phase as very grave and acute, said the the Arab world is passing through a very grave and critical stage, a stage in which Arab joint action needs a vision, thought and working mechanism to produce vitality and effectiveness, he told Middle East News Agency (MENA) Editor in Chief Mahfouz El Ansari in an interview Thursday.

In his meetings, contacts and talks with Arab Leaders, the President said, he found full identity of views with all brothers.

"Against this backdrop, he will invite Arab Leaders at the Amman Arab Summit to Cairo in November for an economic summit to assess the present Arab situation, how to enhance it in the future and how to set it in motion," he added.

"The nomination of Foreign Minister Amr Moussa to the post of Arab League Secretary General came as a response to the requirements of the coming phase," he said. "Moussa welcomed the nomination," he added.

On his upcoming visit to the US which is due to begin on April 2, the President said that he will examine with President George W. Bush a new formula or new framework for Egyptian-American relations as an alternative to the Mubarak-Al-Gore formula that ended with the departure of Former US President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al-Gore from the White House last January.

"He will also post the new American Administration and Congress on the actual situation in the region and the current status of the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially in the occupied territories," he added.

President Hosni Mubarak said that he will post US President George W. Bush on the dimensions of the whole picture in the Middle East as Egypt is the best reliable side as far as the knowledge of region is concerned.

"The aim of the visit is to set facts in their due frame and to close the door against any speculations or falsifications," Mubarak said.

"Egypt and the US are friends and maintain strong relations in spite of the change in administration," Mubarak said, adding that a real friendship has to be true and faithful with your friend and help him understand the situation and facts as they are.

"Regardless of the seasonal attacks by certain circles whenever I visit the US, I and the US Congress members are keen to meet," he said. "It is useful to update the congressmen on facts and they are able to assess and distinguish lies from realities," he added.

"The new US Administration has apparently enforced a change in the priorities of its foreign policy," said Mubarak. He cited calling off three partnership agreements signed by the previous administration with Egypt, Russia and South Africa.

He said that one of the agreements already signed, and has now become defunct.

"There are deliberations underway now to frame out a new formula for bilateral cooperation as an alternative to the Mubarak-Gore one," he said.

Mubarak underlined the relation between his visit to the US, scheduled on April 2, and the Arab Summit, due to start on March 27, noting that the outcome of the summit would be one of the topics to be taken up with President Bush.

Mubarak said that the economy constitutes the priority of joint Arab action.

Mubarak also said that he will propose to the Arab leaders the idea of convening an Arab economic summit and in case of agreement the summit would be held in Cairo in November.

"There is no time to waste and I have been calling over eight years now to establish the Arab common market and I am still calling for it," said Mubarak. "Such summit would crystallize the plans and the relevant executive programs to utilize the huge potentials of the Arab world for the interest of the Arab people," he added. The President laments as unreasonable to keep rotating in a vicious circle where the inter-Arab trade accounts only for 8 % of the Arab foreign trade.

"It is unreasonable likewise that so many people stay idle in the Arab world while the Arab countries are solving the unemployment problem of many foreign countries and helping alleviate their economic crises," Mubarak remarked.

He describes as plenty the chances for joint Arab action in the economic, industrial and agricultural fields, adding that such prospects have the potential to help solve the problems of all.

"The utilization of resources and potentials available in the Arab world within a framework of integration could lead up to a qualitative leap in the Arab economy and the Arab pattern of living as well as a competent Arab economic power," Mubarak elaborated.

Previous Stories:
  Ebeid reiterates importance of setting up Arab common market   (3/19/2001)
  Amman Summit calls for closer relations with EU, Russia   (3/19/2001)
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