| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mubarak: Arabs to fight 'scourge of terrorism'
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday that Arab leaders support the "road map" to peace in the Middle East and would back efforts to end violence by militants. Mubarak held a joint news conference with President Bush after a summit with the American leader and rulers of other Arab nations and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. The following is a partial transcript of Mubarak's address: MUBARAK: We welcome the road map rising from this vision ... especially since it has been accepted by both the Israeli and Palestinian governments. We particularly express our appreciation for President Bush's strong personal commitment for its full implementation. The road map provides for ending the occupation that began in 1967 and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 2005 through fulfillment of all sides to their own obligations. These obligations are built on the foundations of the Madrid Conference, the principles of land for peace and U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 1,397 and the initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah unanimously endorsed by the Arab League summit in [Beirut, Lebanon]. We support the determination of the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its responsibility to end violence and to maintain law and order as announced by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. We will continue to support the Palestinian Authority's efforts to uphold these commitments in order to allow it to consolidate its authority in democratic and accountable institutions. We will ensure that our assistance to the Palestinians goes solely to the Palestinian Authority, and we will continue to support efforts to improve the quality of life of the Palestinian people. We call on Israel to simultaneously fulfill its own responsibilities to rebuild trust and restore normal Palestinian life and to carry out its other obligations under the road map, thus promoting progress toward the president's vision. We affirm our position again against terror and violence. We will continue to fight the scourge of terrorism against humanity and reject the culture of extremism and violence in any form or shape, from whatever source or place, regardless of justifications or motives, being fully aware of their danger as a plague that threatens the peace and stability of the whole world. We will use all the power of the law to prevent support reaching illegal organizations, including terrorist groups. We reiterate our support for the Iraqi people as they rebuild their country. We affirm our commitment once more to the independence and the territorial integrity of Iraq under a government that represents the Iraqi people and emanating from its free will, where Iraqi people live in peace and harmony with its neighbors. ... As the countries of this region continue their important endeavors to political, economic and social reforms, we welcome the initiative by the United States to open new economic opportunities for all the people in the Middle East. We shall continue to work for a Middle East that is free of strife and violence, living in harmony without the threat of terrorism or dangers of weapons of mass destruction.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
