Mubarak denounces terror attacks in America
Egypt-USA, Politics, 9/12/2001

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned terrorism under any circumstances, terming the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States yesterday as "heinous and unimaginable."

President Mubarak was giving statements following an expanded cabinet meeting yesterday at the presidential palace in Heliopolis.

The meeting discussed only one issue: the deplorable unexpected incident in the United States, said the president, referring to those who fell victims to this incident.

"The United States is a friendly country and we can never deny that," he said.

We dare say that terrorism in a serious matter and we condemn it under any circumstances, he added, showing sympathy with the helpless citizens who get killed in these operations.

"In fact, the operation was hideous beyond imagination. When I watched the incidents on TV, I thought it might be a plane that hit the tower due to blurry vision but I noticed that the atmosphere was clear and then I saw the second plane hitting the building," said the President.

"It's unbelievable...explosions here and there, towers Collapsing and the pentagon and other places...it's a very confusing matter actually," Mubarak added.

He expressed hope that the operation would pass quickly and that matters would return to normal.

Asked about the reverberations of these incidents on the situation in the Middle East the President said. "I can't give any comment right now. The United States has now got a problem, a disaster, and I can't speak about this issue now. When matters there are stable and a stance is announced, then I would speak."

On his warning over and again against terrorism, President Mubarak said that terrorism stretches worldwide.

"Would anybody imagine that a passenger plane hit the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York or the US Defence Department building...this is a thing nobody would never think of," he said.

One might think of limited bombings like those that take place in Israel or other countries but no one would think of such wide-scale bombings, he noted.

Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, Shura Council Speaker Mustafa Kamal Helmi, Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali and a number of ministers attended the expanded cabinet meeting.

Events started yesterday with a collision of two aircraft into the towers of the world trade centre in New York leveling them to the ground, and leaving a large number of citizens killed and wounded.

One hour later, a third aircraft collided into the Pentagon setting the building in fire. Columns of smoke were seen pillowing from the building.

Previous Stories:
  Arafat-Bush meeting important   (9/8/2001)
  US walkout from WCAR an insult to UN, S. Africa   (9/6/2001)
  Egyptian-US consultations for facing the crisis   (8/21/2001)

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