Pressing for progress
Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmy, urged the US to aggressively address the Middle East peace process and expressed doubts that Iraq could set a model for change in the region, Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington
Nabil Fahmy
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Although the United States won the war against Iraq, Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy said he believes that the "verdict remains out" on whether the unprecedented US move "will constitute a watershed or quagmire for the region as well as for international relations".
In a speech delivered at Israel's Policy Forum (IPF) last week, Fahmy said that maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity, forming an Iraqi government and conflicting internal and external pressures from regional players were among the main challenges facing the United States after occupying Iraq. "If the United States-led coalition continues to shoulder the responsibility of rehabilitation and stabilisation in Iraq, there will necessarily be a prolonged American armed presence. This in turn will be seen increasingly as a foreign occupation by most Iraqis and their neighbours, with ramifications on America's image and interests in the region. Consequently, the role of foreign overseer should be expeditiously handed to a legitimate international body or an umbrella [organisation]."
Fahmy also pointed out that Iraq could not set a model for change in the region because the process of its transformation into a stable state will likely take time. "I see the change in the region occurring even before Iraq can confidently say it is a mature democracy," Fahmy told the audience at IPF, an American-Jewish group that supports a two-state solution to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "Saddam's Iraq was not a symbol of the region and, the Middle East would have changed even if Saddam had remained in power," Fahmy said. He also pointed out that "for reforms to take root and succeed they must be internally driven... Imposition of reforms, whether from within or abroad, is only a recipe for short-lived and cosmetic changes."
Recalling the fact that the war against Iraq was justified in large part by the "eminent threat" that it posed because of its possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), Fahmy called for the Middle East region to address this issue immediately. He underscored the fact that UN resolutions calling for Iraq's disarmament stated that this would "represent a step toward the goal of establishing a zone free of WMDs in the Middle East". He added, "Israel argued that Iraq was a serious threat to its security that has been eliminated. Consequently, there is no need for further procrastination... Such a step is an integral part, not a consequence of, a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region."
Moving to the subject of the Middle East peace process and recent efforts by US President George Bush to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the Egyptian ambassador described the conflict as "asymmetrical, with the Palestinians arguing that 'right' and international legitimacy must prevail" and "Israel, on the other hand, exercising brutal force to assert its will". "There is no military solution to this conflict," he said.
Fahmy emphasised that the success of the new government formed by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, "depends very much on the level of support Israel itself will lend it". He noted, "Palestinian reform is important and beneficial to Palestinian interests, but it cannot fully respond to the frustrations or aspirations of the Palestinian people as a result of the lack of peace in the Middle East. And peace can only be achieved by ending the continued Israeli occupation of Arab territories." He warned that Israel's expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories not only eroded Palestinian territory "but also the very prospects of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East".
The United States, meanwhile, should also address the peace process aggressively, "setting a clear delineation of the final destination up front using the time frame set in the president's vision and employing the terms of reference he advanced in his 24 June speech and [which are] embodied in the roadmap", Fahmy said.
He added, "This implies pressing the parties along the road for concrete actions leading to that final settlement and avoiding derailing the process by interim or long-term transitional arrangements which will only prolong their agony and hearten the adversaries of peace on both sides."
Concluding his speech, Fahmy stressed that reports of rising so-called "anti- Americanism in the Arab region" were "all about policies and not some generic hatred or ignorance towards America" and said that they needed to be addressed as such. He listed the US war against Iraq, the situation in Palestine and the excessive scope of the US war against terrorism following the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington as some of the reasons behind rising anti- Americanism in the region. He added that "dealing with strategic concerns of the regional players requires a comprehensive and long-term perspective to ensure peace and stability... Double standards or artificial solutions and unrealistic guidelines can only bring greater suffering and further pain, frustration and conflict, which ultimately will be at the expense of the interests of all."
