WASHINGTON, 7 March — President George Bush yesterday praised Crown Prince Abdullah’s Middle East peace initiative, but rejected Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s appeal for US involvement in the Middle East. He repeated the long-standing American position that Palestinians must end their militant activities before peace negotiations can start. “There has got to be a vision for peace in order for us to head toward peace,” Bush said in a joint appearance with Mubarak at the White House. The Egyptian president is in Washington for a 3-day “working” visit.
Before meeting with Bush, Mubarak — whose country is a key American ally and the first Arab country to make peace with Israel — gave a speech urging the United States to act swiftly against the explosive Palestinian-Israeli violence. “The Palestinians and Israelis are under siege, they cannot move. There needs to be an effort to break the cycle of violence, or I’m afraid the whole area will be in trouble. We must find a solution and break this vicious cycle,” Mubarak, 74, told guests at a luncheon organized by the Middle East Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mubarak stressed the need for stability in the region: “A land was acquired by force,” he said. “This occupation, with its settlements and its grief for all involved, has denied an entire people its right to a nation, to an identity, and to a future to call its own.”
Mubarak said Israeli efforts to isolate Arafat by confining him to the West Bank city of Ramallah would prove counterproductive.
“We cannot say that without Arafat we can reach an agreement, it’s a grave mistake. I’m not pro-Arafat, I’m pro-peace and for the stability and the welfare of the people in the whole area, Israelis and Arabs.”
“Occupation must end,” Mubarak said later at the White House. “Palestinians must have their viable state. Coexistence and security for all countries in the region must be guaranteed.”
Bush responded by reiterating his desire for an independent Palestinians state, which his spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said was particularly notable coming from a “Republican president.”
This is the first time Mubarak has come to Washington since Sept. 11. Many Mideast observers noted that “it is not possible to underscore the importance of this visit.”
Former Amb. Dennis Ross, who will take over as head of the pro-Israeli Washington Institute, told journalists just prior to Mubarak’s arrival that he thought the Egyptian president was “coming with trepidation due to the perception that some Egyptians took part in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many are wondering if this will cause strategic changes in the US-Egyptian relations.”
Mubarak will spend today in multiple meetings with Congressmen and Senators on the Hill. Meanwhile, Suzanne Mubarak, Egypt’s first lady, has also been doing some lobbying on her own while in town.
Speaking at a ladies’ luncheon on Monday organized by Middle East Institute, she told the audience of the profound changes taking place within Arab society, and “the increasingly important role of women in the Arab world.
“Contrary to views in the West, many Arab women are well educated, and the rising education level of Arab women is at the core of the profound changes in the region.”
Mrs. Mubarak spoke of the need to “demystify Arab women and help correct the faulty and stereotypical images of Arab women and Islam.”
She outlined the “girl- friendly” programs in Egypt, “aimed at helping women, and their families, break out of the cycle of poverty.”
“Poverty creates civil unrest, poverty creates social conflict, and poverty even creates war,” Mrs. Mubarak said. “Egypt has placed poverty at the center of its economic reform program. The success of these programs depends on good reforms, which are dependent on education.”
