ECFA urges cautious response to terrorism
Egypt-USA, Politics, 10/3/2001

The Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) has condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and has expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, the American people and US government.

It has also issued the following statement:

"The recent attacks against the US have highlighted the true face of terrorism and its impact on nations, regions and continents.

Terrorism diminishes not only the stability of societies, but also world peace and security. For that reason, combating terrorism is the responsibility of the International Community at large, and in compliance with international law and must be effected under an umbrella of international legitimacy.

The Council believes that in confronting terrorism effectively, it is imperative that all peoples of the world with their diverse cultures and regimes be involved.

The definition of terrorism should differentiate between terrorism and people's struggle against occupation and foreign domination.

It should also look for the underlying causes of terrorism, its basic sources and the factors that nourish it.

In this respect, it would be helpful to take stock of and activate the resolutions, recommendations and studies undertaken by the United Nations.

It would also be helpful to study the reasons behind the spread of this phenomenon and study the necessary measures to prevent it while in the meantime reaching a final and comprehensive international agreement against terrorism.

The Council expresses its concern that the attempts to form an international coalition against terrorism would not suffice to fight it and eliminate it in the long run.

On the contrary, the coalition might lead to the instability of some societies.

For that reason, the Council supports the Egyptian proposal calling for an international conference on terrorism under the UN umbrella and after a careful preparatory phase.

The objective of such a conference should be reaching a comprehensive international agreement open to all States to adhere to, an agreement that would establish a mechanism responsible for implementing the agreement and including an international court.

No one denies the right of the US to follow and try the terrorists responsible for the malicious attacks.

However, we would expect that the US retaliation, like its previous responses to similar attacks in the past against American targets, be measured carefully and inclusive only of the terrorists who should be proven guilty in a due process of law.

The Council hopes that the US response avoids widening and complicating the present turbulent situation in the Middle East, thus retarding the efforts to achieve a just and lasting peaceful settlement of its problems.

To that effect, the Council hopes that the recent events should provide an opportunity for the immediate resumption of the Peace Process in the Middle East in accordance with the International Community.

A comprehensive, just and lasting resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict would provide the right atmosphere for the elimination of international terrorism.

Finally, the Council anxiously notices the attempts by some quarters, either due to a misunderstanding or to serve narrow interests, to put Islam and Muslims in a confrontation with the West and Christianity, as well as to distort the image of Islam and Muslims.

Such attempts contradict the values common to all faiths, which call for tolerance, unity and solidarity.

The Council calls on the Egyptian, Arab, Islamic and Western civil societies to fight against those mean attempts and to promote dialogue and coexistence among civilisation."

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