Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak warned Sunday that Israeli retaliatory action against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "will not serve the cause of peace in any way."
"The premeditated escalation against the elected Palestinian President will not serve the cause of peace in any way," Mubarak said in a televised speech on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1973 war.
"Israel's attempts to consolidate in the mind of the international community the idea that Yasser Arafat is an obstacle to peace is making the situation more complicated," he added.
On Sunday, Israel said it would not immediately expel Arafat from his West Bank headquarters after the Haifa attack, but stressed that the "clock is ticking" towards his removal.
Mubarak expressed "sadness because more civilian victims are falling on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides," and said the "outburst of violence and counter-violence is threatening the heart of the peace process."
However, he blamed Israel, and called for a new effort by the "Quartet" to bring the situation under control.
"To establish peace and security, occupation should be brought to an end, (Israeli) provocative actions that deepen frustration and despair should be halted, and a Palestinian independent state should be created as soon as possble," Mubarak added.
He called on the "Quartet" to design a "neutral and efficient mechanism to monitor the implementation" of its "roadmap" to Middle East peace.
Such a mechanism should "bring violence and counter-violence under control and launch serious negotiations" to bring about a Palestinian state, he said.
Moreover, Mubarak said lessons can still be learned from Egypt's 1973 war with Israel, including that expansionist
policies lead to violence rather than stability.
This war taught "that imperialistic tendencies and
expansionism and the resultant occupation do not lead to
stability or safety," Mubarak said in his speech.
"They lead to violence and destruction, to hate between peoples, societies and religions."
Furthermore, Mubarak hailed the results of the war, which he said returned Egypt's self-confidence after previous wars which had left Cairo defeated and with some of its territory occupied by Israel. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
