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Mubarak
meets Bush in Washington
Links to latest wire stories
UPDATED
7 MARCH 2002, 11PM
White House: Full
text of press conference with Mubarak and Bush
AccessAtlanta: Comprehensive
overview of Bush-Mubarak meeting
AP: Mubarak
tells Council on Foreign Relations and the Middle East Institute that he
is not Pro-Arafat, but that "Israel must deal with Yasser
Arafat as the leader of the Palestinians and "reverse the
injustice" of holding their land by force."
"We have to
work with Arafat" until the Arab-Israeli dispute is resolved,
Mubarak said. "It is a great mistake to think otherwise."
The
Chicago Tribune reports that the Bush administration was cool to
Mubarak's proposal of a Sharm El-Sheikh summit between Sharon
and Arafat. The
Boston Globe says "US officials [remain] wary of
intervening in the spiraling conflict.
USA
Today: "Bush
said Palestinians must make the first move by stopping their
attacks, but Mubarak put pressure on Israel."
This
report says Mubarak will be speaking to Jewish groups during the visit.
-- "to assuage fears by the American Jewish community of his
country's military buildup." The
Jerusalem Post reports that the meeting ended up with four Jewish groups
upset because Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League was not
invited.
Politics/Headline
news
All
eyes on Washington
(cairolive.com,
March 5, 2002) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
is set to meet US president George W Bush at the White House today
-- in the lead-up to the meeting, pundits on every side of the
Middle Eastern equation have been busy debating how the
latest Mubarak-Bush powwow might affect the future of the region.
One mantra has
been repeated most often in the Egyptian press -- that this meeting
is the most important ever between Mubarak and a US president.
September 11 has a lot to do with that of course. As does the
rapidly deteriorating situation between the Israelis and the
Palestinians.
Over the weekend
in Washington, Mubarak met with Vice President Dick Cheney,
Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor
Condoleeza Rice. He will also meet with Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld and CIA director George Tenet, in addition to the big
meeting with Bush.
In an interview
with CNN, the Egyptian President said he was willing to host a
summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat.
Mubarak admitted that the
summit idea was not "going to solve all the problems in one
minute." It would, however, serve to change the atmosphere, to
show the people that both are sitting with each other."
The BBC opined
that "there is an element of competitive peace-making in the
Egyptian suggestion... It is clear President Mubarak does not want
to be left behind in the wake of the much-discussed
Saudi Arabian peace proposals."
And with the Israelis
flat-out rejecting any possibility of such a summit, the BBC says,
"The Americans are left in a more embarrassing position, caught
between their support for the Israelis and their friendship for Mr
Mubarak."
The
Financial Times saw things a bit differently, arguing that "Bush
is likely to use the parlous state of Egypt's economy to ratchet up
pressure on Mubarak to support US policies in the Middle East"
-- including the possibility of major US action against Iraq.
At the forefront of
discussions on this matter -- at least from the Egyptian side -- is
the concept of Arab public opinion not being able to tolerate such a
unilateral American action. Mubarak is trying to convince the US
that the "Arab street" is like a tinderbox just waiting to
explode in rage, after a year and a half of seeing the US do little
to stop a gradually escalating intifada from turning into a war that
-- no matter how damaging for the Israelis -- is utterly devastating
for the Palestinians as well.
That rage was perhaps best
reflected in the popular TV program Ra'is El-Tahrir, hosted by Hamdi
Qandi. On Monday night on Egyptian TV and broadcast via satellite to
Arabs across the region and the world, a highly charged Qandil feted
the latest suicide bombings and hoped more were on the way.
"Take into account that
if something befalls [Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat, the street
will be on fire," head of Egyptian State Information Services
Nabil Othman told a reporter from the Baltimore Sun this week. The
article, however, was mainly an attempt to dispel the validity of
the Arab street concept. The gist was that "Just getting by in
a country where about 40 percent of the population lives below the
poverty line is such an overwhelming task that some observers and
pundits here believe it distracts from the likelihood of a street
explosion."
In another attempt to gauge
that street the New York Times interviewed two Egyptians in Tahrir
Square. One, a 48-year-old engineer, said that the Saudi peace
proposal was good, but that Israel --
"the powerful side [that makes] the decisions" -- would
never accept it. The other interviewee, a 22-year-old graduate
student, said the only language Israel understood was force.
"Only war can regain land," she told the paper, "We
want peace but they don't, so there's no choice."
There has been
much debate over whether Egypt really supports the Saudi plan, or
whether there is competition between Egypt and Saudi over who will
be the main peace broker in the region. Egypt has consistently
played that role, but now Saudi -- with its reputation tarnished
heavily stateside post-911 -- may be trying to save face. That's the
opinion proffered by an AP report, which states, "Whether
it succeeds or not, Abdullah's plan may help Saudi Arabia improve
its ties with the United States."
In his CNN
interview, Mubarak also volunteered that he had been asked to
engineer a meeting between Sharon and Abdalla to discuss the plan. "I
sent the message to Crown Prince Abdalla. But I don't think that
Crown Prince Abdalla, the country of the holy places (the Saudi
cities of Mecca and Medina), will be able to meet with Sharon unless
there is peace," Mubarak concluded.
The
possibilities of that peace may depend on just how willing the US
president is to listen to -- and react on -- Mubarak's ideas
and concerns on Tuesday.
Related on
cairolive.com
Moussa's
message to Sharon
Hit
the Palestinians and they will hit back, the Arab League chief tells
a Cairo crowd (March 6, 2002)
Friedman's
peace plan?
The New York Times columnist continues his quest to set
the regional agenda. (March 3, 2002)
COMING
SOON...
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(26-2-02)
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(26-2-02)
Ad watch
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(26-2-02)
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