Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said on Sunday that Egypt is winning its domestic fight against terrorism, but said the success of a wider international war on terror hinged on the creation of a Palestinian state. “For many years the police have fought a harsh battle against terrorism to smash their organizations, arrest most of their leaders, dry up most of their sources of finance, and uncover their communication lines to groups abroad,” he said in a televised speech honoring Egypt’s police force on the Golden Jubilee of the establishment of the police force of the republic.
“They are leading a successful battle against evil,” Mubarak stressed. But the president reiterated the Arab view that terrorism could only be defeated in the long run with a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where peacemaking has been in crisis for over a year.
“The credibility of the international campaign against terrorism will rely to a great extent on the success of the United States, the European union, Russia and the UN, not just in ending violence, but in starting serious negotiations...and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Mubarak said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
