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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Focus Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
DURING celebrations marking the opening of the Cairo Book Fair, President Mubarak honoured a number of prominent writers for their outstanding work. Ibrahim Nafie, Al-Ahram board chairman and chief editor, was honoured for the Arabic Strategic Report, issued by Al-Ahram, and his collection entitled, Hiwarat lil-Tarikh (Historical Interviews).
Other Al-Ahram writers honoured were El-Sayed Yassin, Salaheddin Hafez, Milad Hanna and Nabil Abdel-Fattah. The honour list also included poet Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudi, Israel expert Abdel-Wahab Elmessiri and economist Galal Amin
'Frankly speaking'
By Nevine KhalilTalking with intellectuals and journalists on Tuesday at the opening of the 31st Annual Book Fair, President Hosni Mubarak addressed a number of foreign and domestic policy issues. Topping the questions posed to the president were those related to foreign policy, especially the Iraqi crisis and regional peace-making. Mubarak told an audience of several hundred people that the Iraqi crisis can only be resolved through a joint Arab effort and added that the peace process needs a "miracle."
Mubarak said that, in principle, Egypt is against the use of force in resolving conflicts, especially in the confrontation between Iraq and the United States. Indicating that the divisions caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 continue to run deep, Mubarak said that the "healing process is ongoing and all Arabs must take part in it." He said that the invasion "tore the Arab world apart," although all Arab leaders agree that Iraq should not be broken up into three separate states. "The division of Iraq is a bad idea which will transform the region into an enclave of constant conflicts," Mubarak said.
He said that although Egypt had suffered for its efforts to improve conditions in Iraq and to ward off air strikes against Baghdad last February and November, the Iraqis had turned down an Egyptian offer of a 40-ton relief airlift after the December US-British strikes. "[The Iraqis] said they did not need food or medical aid, but political support," stated Mubarak.
He said that Cairo is "making every possible effort to close Arab ranks and alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people," adding that this policy is "not influenced by any outside powers." Mubarak denied that Egypt's stance on Iraq was in reaction to the maltreatment of Egyptian labour in Iraq over the years. "We are not taking revenge for the Egyptians who were in Iraq," the president stated. "We are above such matters."
Referring to the recent war of words between the Egypt and Iraq which erupted soon after the US-British strikes came to a halt on 20 December, Mubarak said that Saddam Hussein's Baghdad is "upset because I expressed my opinion frankly in criticising the Iraqi regime and supporting the Iraqi people." He noted that a difference in opinion between Cairo and Baghdad "does not imply there is a conspiracy or betrayal as some have claimed."
Mubarak explained that the consultations between the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and Oman in Hurghada, Jeddah and Cairo which preceded last Sunday's Arab League meeting "were not intended to go behind any body's back". Rather, Mubarak said, their aim was to prepare for the full-fledged foreign ministers meeting, especially for the "awful" session which would have brought the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq together. The closed session consequently witnessed the storming out of Iraqi Foreign Minister Said El-Sahhaf. "The Iraqis felt that if the meeting was not exclusively pro-Iraq then it was a betrayal," Mubarak said.
Turning to the other issue constantly plaguing the Middle East, Mubarak said that the peace process needs a "miracle" in order to get back on track because of current events in the US, Israel and the Arab world. "I don't have any hope that Israel will follow through on the signed agreements," he said, reiterating that peace cannot be achieved except through the "honest implementation" of signed agreements between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Mubarak recalled that after the singing of the Wye Accord last October, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu telephoned him from Washington to discuss prospects of bilateral economic cooperation. The president told Netanyahu that agreements must be implemented first before such cooperation can materialise. "[Netanyahu] replied that the Palestinians must first honour their part of the bargain," Mubarak recounted. "At that point I knew that at the back of his mind he was not willing to follow through on the agreement."
The president said that it was up to the Palestinian leadership to decide on the appropriate time to declare a sovereign Palestinian state, either on the set date of 4 May, according to the 1993 Oslo Accords, or later. "Declaring a Palestinian state is a Palestinian decision," Mubarak stated. "It is the responsibility of the leadership to evaluate the situation and set a date."
On the home front, Mubarak took to task those journalists who had strongly criticised the mega-development projects such as the new Toshka Valley in the south-western desert, saying that numerous studies since the 1960s had shown the project was ideal for expanding agricultural and inhabited areas. "Investors in Toshka have also carried out their own feasibility studies and found the project a good investment," he said. Mubarak said that "criticism should be based on realities and facts," and writers should shoulder their responsibilities, "in order not to harm the interests of the people." He said that the government is willing to correct mistakes, "if criticism is sound and valid. I welcome any viewpoint," Mubarak declared, "and it is our duty to listen and rectify."
Asked about prospects for greater political freedoms, the president said that he "supports progress in all aspects of Egyptian life," and it was only a matter of time. "Egypt will take steps to advance democracy as its economic potential progresses," he declared. He added that the next parliamentary elections will be organised on the basis of the individual candidate system and not the slate system. "We will use the system which fits best with the constitution, and that is the individual system," he stated, adding that measures will be taken to prevent "gloves off" campaigning by candidates, which in the past has led to injury and even death among the electorate.
