Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, said Tuesday the U.S.-led war on terrorism had been diverted to serve Israel.
In a nationally televised speech marking May Day, Mubarak said the U.S. and other world leaders had promised to push for an independent Palestinian state and the return of land occupied by Israel.
"All promises and assurances were ignored and the big powers instead concentrated on security issues and neglected their pivotal role in preparing a suitable atmosphere for political negotiations," said the Egyptian president.
"This led to diverting the campaign against terrorism toward a new direction that aims to achieve political gains for Israel at the expense of the Arab and Islamic countries and use this campaign to destroy legitimate Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation," Mubarak said.
"What happened is a sudden change in the direction of the war against terrorism which, I am afraid, will shake the people's faith in it and in its credibility in the Arab and Muslim worlds," he said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has compared the Palestinians his troops are hunting in Palestinian areas to the Sept. 11 hijackers. Mubarak on Tuesday rejected the comparison and called Israel's incursion into Palestinian territories "savage." Mubarak added Israel's actions aimed "to terrorize the Palestinian people and suppress their resistance to occupation".
"It is illogically and unjust to compare the U.S. war against terrorism in Afghanistan with Israel's war against unarmed Palestinians who are resisting occupation," Mubarak said.
Mubarak noted U.S. success in getting Israel to agree to lift its siege of Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.
"This clearly shows the importance of the American role and proves that the strong intervention of the United States...can bring about a real political breakthrough that leads to security and stability in the region," Mubarak said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
