22 - 28 February 2001
Issue No.522
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 February 2001 Issue No.522 |
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The view from Rome
Setting out for Rome on Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak had a packed agenda for high-level talks with Italian officials. His visit came two days after the US and Britain bombed control and command stations outside Baghdad and almost a fortnight after the election of hawkish right-wing leader Ariel Sharon as Israel's new prime minister. His return on Wednesday comes only three days before US Secretary of State Colin Powell's inaugural visit to the Middle East, which will begin with a stop in Cairo on Saturday.
In talks with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, as well as Pope John Paul II, Mubarak detailed Egypt's perspective on recent regional events and pushed stronger European involvement. Ciampi and Amato agreed with Mubarak that the European Union needs to play a more active role in the Middle East peace process, but that Palestinians and Israelis need to accept EU mediation.
At a joint news conference with Mubarak on Monday, Amato stressed that "a mediator cannot do anything until both parties agree to be helped," further arguing that "the Israelis have not accepted European mediation in the past because they suspected our position will lean towards the Palestinian side." Amato nonetheless emphasised the importance of EU "actively engaging in the peace process" and expressed his hope that Prime Minster Sharon agrees.
Behind closed doors Mubarak and Amato discussed ways the EU can promote its political role, alongside its existing economic role, in realising peace in the region and there are signs that the tide could be turning. During the last month's talks between the Palestinians and Israelis at the Sinai resort town of Taba, the EU's special envoy to the peace process, Miguel Moratinos, was the only observer. The EU will also be represented in the fact-finding mission to the occupied territories that was established at last October's Sharm Al-Sheikh summit.
In an interview with Italian television, Mubarak said that he does not expect the new US administration to engage fully in peace mediation. "I don't think that [George W] Bush will commit himself in the way [former US President Bill] Clinton did to continued mediation and involvement," he said.
During his four-day visit to Italy, President Mubarak held talks with Italian Prime Minister Amato and Pope John Paul II
Ciampi had told Mubarak earlier in the day that achieving peace in the Middle East was in the interest of Europe's stability and security. Hence, the two presidents wanted to see an end to the destabilising violence taking place in the region and the "tragic conditions" imposed on the Palestinian people. The two leaders also expressed hope that Sharon would soon announce his peace policies. Mubarak urged the new Israeli government to "follow a new discourse in dealing with the peace process." He called on the Israeli side to "take positive steps to put an end to the violence and return to the negotiating table," saying that he wants to discuss all final status issues to avoid "complicating conditions further." Otherwise, he warned, "the arena will be open to fanatics to wreak havoc."
Mubarak advised Sharon not to procrastinate under the pretext that the Intifada must stop first. "The Palestinians are desperate," he said, "and [Sharon's] government must be reasonable in order to reach a settlement. We were close to an agreement, but the eruption of violence reversed everything." Foreign Minister Amr Moussa stressed the same points in talks with his Italian counterpart, Lamberto Dini, saying that the peace process "must not backtrack." Both diplomats echoed concern over the strikes against Iraq and their ramifications in the region.
After meeting with Mubarak on Tuesday to discuss the prospects of peace and the fate of Jerusalem, Pope John Paul II issued a statement emphasising "the necessity of ending all forms of violence in the region," and urging all parties to "work towards a just peace based on international law, equal rights and duties."
Mubarak's visit to Rome coincided with the convening of the 24th session of the governing council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). On Tuesday, Mubarak was the guest of honour at a gathering attended by delegations from 164 countries. Saying that globalisation and economic liberalisation have pushed the world to the threshold of historical change, Mubarak said that the agricultural sector is the "most vulnerable sector" to be affected by these world trends, and urged that it should be given high priority, particularly in terms of funding and for agricultural development projects.
Established in 1977 as an international financial institution to fund agricultural development projects -- primarily for food production in developing countries -- IFAD is a specialised UN agency aimed at alleviating rural poverty and improving nutrition worldwide. Since its creation, IFAD has partially funded 578 projects in 114 countries around the world at a cost of $6.8 billion. Egypt was one of the first countries to benefit from IFAD initiatives in 1980, when seven projects were provided with $158 million and another $234 million was channelled into Egypt's poorest regions. Egypt was among the first IFAD beneficiaries in the Middle East and North Africa, and the sixth worldwide.
Mubarak last addressed IFAD in 1982, when he asserted that "he who does not own his means of livelihood has no control over his own freedom." This week, quoting the IFAD 2001 report on poverty in rural areas, Mubarak noted that three-quarters of those living in abject poverty reside in rural areas. "Rural development," he concluded, "should be a high-priority issue on the world community's agenda."
Egypt's agricultural sector accounts for 18 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), employs nearly 34 per cent of the labour force and accounts for about 20 per cent of total exports -- so it is important that the government pays close attention to its needs. Egypt's agricultural development plan over the next two decades aims at increasing the annual growth rate of agricultural production from the current 3.4 per cent to over four per cent. Key issues involved focus on irrigation, environment and agricultural research in biotechnology and genetic engineering. Other important strategies centre on marketing products in the global market and boosting the roles played by women and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The president noted that many difficulties in the agricultural sector worldwide need to be addressed, including the obstacles faced by exporting industries in developing countries and the difficulty of acquiring highly developed agricultural technology. "All this must be carried out within a supportive framework for sustainable development and environmental and human health protection -- particularly as diseases have become more dangerous and easily communicable," Mubarak noted.
IFAD has financed projects that serve Egypt's agricultural development plan, namely projects to increase the crop returns from the newly arable land and desert reclamation initiatives. IFAD's help serves Egypt's plan to expand agricultural and industrial communities outside the Nile Valley through mega-projects like East Oweinat, the Al-Salam Canal and Toshka, in the south-western desert.
In his address, Mubarak applauded IFAD's initiatives to establish a credit fund to finance new projects in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, its efforts to lift the burden of debt on poor countries and the organisation's programme of converting debts into investments in local projects. This last programme was implemented by Egypt and Italy during the course of Mubarak's visit, when $146.7 million in Egyptian debts to Italy were converted into a fund for financing agricultural development, food security and environmental projects.
On Monday, Mubarak also initialed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of remote sensing. After talking at length about bilateral ties and cooperation, Mubarak and Amato declared that 2003 will be a year of Egyptian-Italian cultural exchange. Italy is Egypt's number one trade partner in Europe and the second in the world after the US, at a rate of just over $2.5 billion per annum. Italy is also engaged in dialogue with Egypt on economic cooperation through the EU-Egyptian partnership, as well as the Euro-Mediterranean process.
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