Mubarak, Bush exchanged messages before September11
Egypt-USA, Politics, 10/4/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher Wednesday evening disclosed that President Hosni Mubarak and his US counterpart George W. Bush had exchanged messages before the September 11 attacks.

"The current activation of the US role in the Palestinian question is the product of these messages and contacts from President Mubarak," he told reporters.

"I make no secret when I say that the current US moves were supposed to take place earlier had it not been for the September 11 events," said Maher, referring to recent devastating attacks on New York and Washington.

The official reiterated that the US would not attack any Arab country, but he declined to give further details.

"Egypt is cooperating with the US to the extent it sees fit within the context of an international concurrence against terrorism within international legitimacy," he said.

"The battle against terrorism is a battle which concerns us in the first place. So it is not logical that we do no participate in this anti-terror effort in the way we see proper."

Maher said that he had discussed with his Saudi counterpart and Syrian Vice President arrangements for a coming meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Doha "so that we would forage a unified stand at this meeting."

"The meetings held with King Fahed, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Foreign Minster Prince Saudi Al-Faysal showed the Egypt and Saudi Arabia shared identical views on the current situation," Maher said.

According to Egypt's top diplomat, the meetings took up two issues : the Palestinian issue and how to forge an international concurrence under the UN umbrella.

"We lost confidence in the current (Israeli) government's statements that it seeks a settlement," Maher said. He was commenting on Israeli troops' incursion Wednesday into Gaza.

''Those who exerted efforts to resume Palestinian-Israeli dialogue should swiftly intervene to salvage the situation."

Asked if there is an opportunity now than before to solve the Palestinian problem, Maher said that based on what he had heard during a recent visit to the US and the statements made on Tuesday by US President George bush, he thought that the US had realized the necessity of pressing ahead with working out a settlement to the issue.

Bush said on Tuesday that the creation of a Palestinian state had always been part of the US vision for the Middle East.

"On the Arabs' concern that the recent US interest in the peacemaking process is only temporary and a ruse," Maher said.

"What I see is that there is a realization of the importance of solving the Palestinian question regardless of what happened on September 11."

Previous Stories:
  ECFA urges cautious response to terrorism   (10/3/2001)
  Mubarak receives massage from Bush   (9/29/2001)
  Maher, Powell in a joint press conference   (9/27/2001)

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