Arab and world concern over Mubarak's statements to Chinese News Agency
Egypt-Israel, Politics, 7/21/2001

Tian Congming, Chief of the Chinese News Agency Xinhua, described President Hosni Mubarak as a "politician" who has great influence in the Middle East and Africa.

Speaking to MENA on Thursday, Congming said that President Mubarak is making his utmost to push forward the peace march and he adopts frank and clear stances in this respect.

Congming said that the interview which the President granted him on Wednesday drew the attention of all parties concerned as the President had his impact on the peace process and he had the right to speak about it.

"The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt extended an official invitation to President Mubarak from his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin to visit China and President Mubarak accepted the invitation," Congming added.

"During the visit the two leaders will discuss the latest developments worldwide, in general, and in the Middle East, in particular, along with bilateral cooperation," he said.

Congming expected relations between Egypt and China to witness more development especially in the economic field.

Meanwhile, the statements which President Mubarak gave to Xinhua Wednesday were hailed by the official Palestinian News Agency.

The agency's editor-in-chief, Ziyad Abdel Fattah, said Thursday careful attention should be given to Mubarak's remarks, which made it clear that there was little hope of reaching a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon in power, because Sharon knew nothing but killing and war, and that Israel was not implementing signed agreements.

"The Egyptian president is wise and does not speak haphazardly, and he recognizes that the situation in the region is really dangerous, that is violence and terrorism in the Palestinian territories," Abdel Fattah said.

"Mubarak warned Israel against any plan to bomb the High Dam or reoccupy Sinai, like Israeli Minister Avigdor Lieberman once said, because he sensed that Israel had gone too far," according to Abdel Fattah.

He said that Mubarak's statement have alerted the Arabs to the fact that the possibility of war now prevailed over that of peace, which entails an Arab lobby to help end this state of 'no-peace" which could lead to an all-inclusive war.

He expressed his confidence that President Mubarak, who always worked to "put out both minor and major Arab fires," would be able, with his Arab brethren, to devise a unified Arab stance able to talk, with one Arab voice, with the-United States, using the language of interests.

Peace between Israel and the Palestinians will never be possible while Ariel Sharon is Prime Minister, Israeli Ha'aretz of Thursday quoted President Hosni Mubarak as saying in his interview to the Chinese News Agency (Xinhua).

"With Sharon, there is no solution," he said, in his fiercest attack on the Israeli prime minister to date.

Calling Sharon a man "who knows only murder, aggression and war," he continued: "By his nature, he cannot accept peace, and frankly, I don't believe there is any hope with Sharon and his gang, which includes extremists."

"Mubarak added that Palestinian Authority (PA) Leader Yasser Arafat had made 'a tremendous effort' to reduce violence over the last month, but it is not his power to eliminate violence completely," said the paper.

Ha'aretz, meanwhile, said Arab foreign ministers Wednesday demanded that international observers be sent to the Palestinian territories immediately.

"In their final statement, the ministers also charged that Israel plans a military assault on the PA, and said that the continued occupation of the territories points up the Palestinians' need to engage in self-defense against Israel," added the paper.

"They urged the United States to intervene in the explosive situation," said Ha 'aretz.

Moreover the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa cited President Mubarak's statements on Wednesday in which he expressed belief that it was difficult to realise peace in the region while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remained in Power.

He said that president Mubarak's statements confirmed the gravity of the situation in the Middle East.

Moussa confirmed that the Arab League would not relinquish its policy which backed the Palestinian stances to restore all legitimate rights according to a just and comprehensive peace.

Moussa's statements came in comment on the criticism of the Arab League by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres who accused the Arab League of adopting hard-line policies.

He said that the Israeli policies could plunge the region into a dangerous crisis.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak: Sharon knows nothing but bloodshed,war   (7/19/2001)
  Mubarak apprises Peres of Egypt's rejection of Israeli practices   (7/16/2001)
  Assassination policy is misleading   (7/14/2001)

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