Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak insisted in an interview broadcast that pressure from the United States and the role of President George W. Bush are key to helping reach peace in the Middle East.
"The United States is key for the peace process," Mubarak said in an interview on Fox News. If Israel and the Palestinians "are left alone to solve the problem, they will reach nowhere."
Both sides "need a heavyweight like the United States" to pressure them to reach an agreement, he said. Other Arab nations in the region "who are affected by the situation" are "ready to help," Mubarak added.
Mubarak also urged Bush to tell Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during their meeting on Monday that "destruction and using force and the killing and retaliation . . . will never bring peace."
Also, Sharon "should work on confidence-building measures to start to give hope to the (Palestinian) people by withdrawing from the land which they have acquired since the 28th of September, 2000," he added, describing Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory as "a time bomb." "I hope that Ariel Sharon could be a man of peace," Mubarak said. "I pray for that."
"Arafat now is weak, very weak. He has no police, no intelligence, no tools to work with," Mubarak said. "If he's given the authority and given the tools, I think it would work very good."
And if he fails "there will be elections coming," Mubarak noted. "If the (Palestinian) people doesn't want him, they will let him go." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
