Mubarak holds summit meeting with Bush
Egypt-USA, Politics, 3/6/2002

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last night held talks with US President George W. Bush, mainly focusing on the Middle East situation that have taken on added urgency after a dramatic surge in violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Washington's plans for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the war in Afghanistan and efforts to boost Egypt's economy also topped the agenda of the meeting in the Oval Office.

Egypt has repeatedly urged the United States to be more active in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians, and underlined Saudi Arabia's recent peace proposal as an incentive for fresh negotiations. The Saudi proposal calls for complete Israeli withdrawal from all Arab lands occupied in 1967 in return for full normalisation of Arab ties with Israel.

Mubarak also is pushing for a summit meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. He suggested that the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh could be used as the venue.

But Bush said in remarks ahead of the meeting that the level of violence must be reduced before negotiations can resume, and urged Arafat to do more to stop attacks on Israel.

"I appreciate the fact that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has laid out his vision for some political solution," Bush said late on Monday. "But the first thing is we've got to reduce the violence in order to be able to get the discussion started." The chances for a reduction in violence appeared remote for now.

The Israelis have restricted Arafat to the West Bank town of Ramallah for weeks, and Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a building in his compound on Monday.

But European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said late on Monday that the United States agreed Israel should let the Palestinian president go to an Arab summit in Beirut this month to endorse the Saudi peace proposal.

In recent days, US officials have expressed some flexibility on the issue of restricting Arafat's travel.

"We will see where we are on this in a little while. We understand that Chairman Arafat has been making some progress in terms of the arrests of people who were associated with the assassination of the Israeli tourism minister," Condoleezza Rice, US national security adviser, told Egyptian television. Rice met with President Mubarak on Monday.

Mubarak also urged the Bush administration to be cautious about planning to overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein because of the effect a US military campaign could have on Arab public opinion.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who held talks with the Egyptian leader on Monday night, will visit the Middle East later this month to explain Washington's intentions and sound out regional views on Iraq.

But hours before the Bush-Mubarak summit, the White House offered little sign it would use a visit by President Mubarak to step up its low-key mediation, saying it was up to Israelis and Palestinians to approve any outside initiatives.

Apparently brushing aside global calls for greater US involvement, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the priority was to end the violence and that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had to do more to crack down on Palestinian resistance fighters.

Asked if the United States would step up its own role, Fleischer said: "The United States role has been steady and ongoing and I anticipate that to continue." "The president looks forward to discussing directly with President Mubarak what ideas the president has for how to achieve peace in the region. The president will begin by listening," Fleischer said. "The president wants to hear from President Mubarak.

"What the president will say at all times is that whatever can be done to achieve peace in the region, whether it is put forward by any helpful third party, needs to be agreed to by the Israeli and Palestinian parties in order to move forward," he said.

Hours before his summit meeting with Bush, the Egyptian leader met with a delegation of Jewish American groups. The President, who will conclude his visit to the United States today, is expected to meet with Congress leaders.

President Mubarak also met with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Mr. Mubarak stressed the strong military ties linking Egypt and the United States.

The President also laid a floral wreath on a memorial commemorating the victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

The President also gave a keynote speech to the Council of Foreign Relations, an influential American think-tank.

The President regretted the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington. He said that terrorism had nothing to do with humanity, adding that terrorists failed in the September attacks to create a clash of civilisations or religions.

Instead, the Egyptian leader continues, people of various civilisations and religions joined hands to combat terror.

Mubarak, the first world leader who warned against terrorism as a global threat, also stressed the need for an international action against terror.

He also highlighted the need for spreading welfare and addressing injustices in order to uproot terrorism. The Egyptian leader, whose country initiated the Middle East peace process in 1977, reiterated Cairo's commitment to peace, referring to his invitation to host a summit meeting between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Touching on domestic issues, President Mubarak said that Egypt was keen to take all necessary steps to enhance its economy and introduce ambitious social reforms.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak's visit to US is highly important   (3/4/2002)
  Mubarak: Egyptian-US relations are excellent   (2/28/2002)
  Mubarak-Bush summit draws optimism in Washington   (2/27/2002)

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