Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday that Egypt supported anti-terrorism actions, but would not take part in any military operations in the anticipated war against Afghanistan being planned by the US-led coalition formed since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The president’s statement came as the Egyptian armed forces celebrated the anniversary of the 1973 October War with Israel, according to the Cairo-based Al Ahram newspaper.
“We support anti-terrorist measures, but the Egyptian army is there to defend Egypt,” added the president, who recently marked twenty years in power.
However, Mubarak said that relations with the US had not been affected by this position, calling the ties “excellent.”
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday played down the role of military strikes in the war against terrorism, saying in Cairo there was only a "small" chance that terrorists would be killed, reported AFP.
According to the agency, Rumsfeld was received in Egypt with sympathy for the devastating US losses, but also with wariness about possible military retaliation.
"The chance of any military action affecting any single terrorist, it seems to me, is small, which is why the (US) president (George W. Bush) has said this is an effort which would have to be sustained over a long period of time," he told a press conference in Cairo.
"I have a feeling that rather than a cruise missile or a bomb, it is more likely that a scrap of intelligence information will help roll up these (terror) networks," he said.
As US forces massed within striking distance of Afghanistan, Rumsfeld asked leaders in the region for help and support for the US-led campaign against the terrorists behind the suicide attacks.
At the meeting with Mubarak and other Arab leaders during his tour of the region, Rumsfeld did not push for specific commitments to the US effort and played down its military aspects, portraying it instead as a long-term struggle in which different countries would choose how they could participate.
"It undoubtedly will prove to be a lot more like a cold war than a hot war," he told reporters.
"If you think about it, in the Cold War, it took 50 years plus or minus, it did not involve major battles, it involved continuous pressure," he said – Albawaba.com
