Washington, DC — Despite spiraling violence in the Middle East and the ongoing war against terrorism, Egyptian President Mohammad Husni Mubarak, in a major address delivered here today, proclaimed himself emphatically optimistic about prospects for global peace.
"The forces of peace in the world outnumber, many times over, the forces of war and destruction and chaos," he said.
Addressing an overflow audience from the Council on Foreign Relations and Middle East Institute, he detailed his willingness to broker peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and emphasized Egypt's interests in tackling the poverty and disease facing Africa. Speaking just prior to his White House meeting with President Bush, Mubarak issued an appeal to the United States to provide significant support for Africa's efforts to find solutions to the continent's problems.
"The Africa we know is an Africa of riches in humans and resources, an Africa that can on its own join the world community in prosperity," he said. Since its independence in 1922, Mubarak said, Egypt has recognized "its unique responsibility in the Arab world and Africa." The country was a leading force in the anti-colonial campaign, he said.
Now, he said it is time for another campaign. "Let's join hands in creating a world free from HIV/Aids, free from civil strife and oppression and able to enhance its own resources with its own people."
He opened his speech with a condemnation of the September attacks on the United States, calling them "barbaric acts" and saying that Egypt had suffered similar assaults in the past. Islamic insurgents waged a bloody seven-year campaign aginst what they said was massive corruption, which culminated in the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists in the town of Luxor. "The senseless violence, the innocent lives lost, the families destroyed -- all for a distorted view of the world," he said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Mubarak, who took office following the 1981 assassination of his predecessor Anouar Sadat after Egypt signed the Camp David peace treaty with Israel, said his country's economy has made great strides since that time, driven by the private sector and the principles of free trade. "The Egypt you see today is an Egypt that was born out of a vision conceived over twenty years ago", he said.
Egypt provides an example of how to "address the problems of poverty, illiteracy and years and years of war and enmity," he said, "through education and health care and by changing the society of Egypt through democracy and the rule of law."
Since the 11 September attacks, several Islamic states have come under pressure to modernize their educational systems. Addressing that issue, Mubarak said that Egyptian children are brought up with the values of religious tolerance that are embedded in "curricula that are constantly revised to keep up with the world at large, a world of progress and innovation, of promise and ingenuity."
In his speech to government and business leaders and a large press contingent, the Egyptian leader said the attacks on New York and Washington, DC brought the United States and Egypt closer together, "instead of tearing us apart."
He also stressed Egypt's commitment to the global fight against terrorism and offered his country as a bridge to world understanding. "Share our culture, use our eyes to view the problems of the third world so that we can solve them together," he said.
