PARIS, 7 March 2004 — French President Jacques Chirac on Friday backed Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in his opposition to a US initiative for political and economic reform in the Middle East, saying the plan amounted to “interference”.
The two held talks after Mubarak arrived in Paris earlier Friday as part of a three-nation tour designed to warn key European partners of the dangers of the “Greater Middle East” initiative.
The US plan aims to encourage democratic and economic reform in the Arab world and other Muslim countries in a bid to deprive international extremists of the reservoir of frustration and poverty they thrive on for support.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have criticized the initiative, fearing Washington wants to impose its own cultural models on the region. “We support modernization which comes as a result of consultations, cooperation between states,” Chirac told a news conference. “On the other hand, we think that nothing can be imposed. In other words, modernization yes, interference no.”
Mubarak arrived from Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also agreed that no solution could be imposed on the region from outside. “The countries concerned must be directly involved in the evolution of any initiative,” concerning the ‘Greater Middle East’,” Berlusconi said after meeting Mubarak late Thursday.
Berlusconi’s statement marks a change in the Italian position compared to its earlier pronouncements. The Egyptian leader is due to continue his campaign against the US plan by visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Monday.
Chirac and Mubarak agreed that any plan to “modernize” the Middle East should follow a relaunching of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and stability in Iraq.
“We think - and it is also the feeling of President Mubarak, that we are on the same track, that all development, all modernization in this region depends on a resolution of the problem of finding peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people,” said Chirac.
“All the same we think it is urgent to find a solution to the problem of Iraq that allows the re-establishment of peace and stability in maintaining unity in Iraq,” he said, adding that “these are the “prerequisites.”
Meanwhile, a senior adviser to Mubarak said yesterday he doubted the United States would take any action against Syria beyond making threats and applying pressure, the official news agency MENA reported.
Presidential adviser Osama El-Baz spoke in MENA in Paris, where Mubarak had talks on Friday with Chirac. “It may be a matter of going to the limits in making threats, because Syria cannot be accused of the same charges made against Iraq,” said Baz, who has been among the top foreign policy decision-makers in Egypt since the 1970s.
“As far as Syria is concerned, it’s a question of practicing pressure,” he added. “ Baz ruled out any serious American inclination to carry out any action against Syria,” MENA reported.
US congressional sources said on Friday that the US administration planned to impose sanctions on Syria within weeks for its support of Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups. Several sources said the administration was leaning toward imposing economic rather than diplomatic sanctions under legislation signed by President George W. Bush in December.
The legislation, the Syria Accountability Act, bans trade in items that could be used in weapons programs until the administration certifies Syria is not supporting “terrorist” groups, has withdrawn personnel from Lebanon, is not developing unconventional weapons and has secured its border with Iraq.
Syria says its support for the Palestinian and Lebanese groups is merely political and their only activity in Syria is speaking to the media. After the rapid fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein last year, conservatives close to the Bush administration openly advocated military action against Syria.
But Washington’s difficulties in Iraq have dampened any enthusiasm the administration may have had for another military adventure in the Middle East, analysts say. Baz also said it was premature to speculate about a possible meeting between Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after a visit to Cairo next week by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
However, senior Israeli and Egyptian officials are to meet early next week to discuss Sharon’s proposed evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, public radio said yesterday.
