28 Feb. - 6 March 2002
Issue No.575
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 Feb. - 6 March 2002 Issue No.575 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Peaceful overtures
President Mubarak's visit to Washington and scheduled meeting with George W Bush next week comes at a critical time for the region. The volatile situation in Palestine and Arab fears that the United States is making final preparations to launch a massive strike against Iraq are likely to top the agenda of talks between the two leaders.Egypt's special relation with the United States allows Mubarak to speak openly and frankly with the American administration. In this respect, he will be expressing not only the Egyptian point view, but that of the majority of Arab countries that have accepted peace with Israel as a "strategic option," and whose leaders are keen to develop stronger ties with the US.
Ahead of his visit, Mubarak contacted several Arab leaders, including those of Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. The important initiative announced by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah last week -- declaring Arab readiness to normalise ties with Israel in return for its withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied in 1967 -- may well set the general framework for discussions of the situation in Palestine. If the administration appreciates such flexibility, it must now put pressure on Ariel Sharon, who is clearly not interested in a peaceful settlement and whose policies are leading inexorably toward regional conflict.
President Mubarak will also explain why most Arabs oppose a US strike on Iraq. US officials continue to refer to the threat Iraq represents to the region, yet none of its closest neighbours -- even Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- support this claim. Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction also seems irrelevant to Arabs as long as Israel continues to possess and develop chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. It is the Israeli nuclear arsenal that poses a real threat to the Arabs -- and to the world. Finally, despite the US rhetoric on Iraq, Washington does not have a single concrete justification for a massive strike that will harm only the devastated Iraqi population.
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