President Mubarak outlined Egypt's perspective on a plethora of domestic and foreign policy issues this week, reports Nevine Khalil In a marathon meeting with the National Democratic Party (NDP) members of parliament on Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak reviewed several domestic and regional issues with party legislators. In his capacity as NDP chairman, Mubarak met with members of parliament on the eve of their fourth session of legislation, which began yesterday. During the meeting, NDP MPs re-elected Fathi Sorour as parliament speaker and retained Amal Osman and El-Sayed Rashed as his deputies. Mubarak dedicated part of his nearly two-hour address to domestic issues, especially pertaining to the economy, and directed NDP Secretary- General Safwat El-Sherif to organise periodic meetings between NDP parliamentarians and the cabinet to discuss issues of public concern. "This will enable MPs to be more aware of what is occurring," said the NDP chief, "and I urge them to make formal inquiries on issues to uncover the truth regarding public opinion." Mubarak gave the floor to Prime Minister Atef Ebeid to respond to several queries by parliamentarians about the stifling economic situation and price increases. "The reasons for the price hikes over the past few months is a result of the gap between consumption and production for several commodities," Ebeid told the gathering. Mubarak added other reasons to the above, including the rise in prices the world over, higher shipping costs and Egypt's staggering population growth. He noted that government subsidies were increased by LE1.6 billion to a total of LE24 billion out of a general budget of LE158 billion. Egypt's cash revenue, however, adds up to no more than LE116 billion. "These figures will become worse if population figures continue to grow," Mubarak warned, who stressed the issue of the population explosion three times during his address. Egypt's census currently stands at 69 million, but forecasts predict 79 million in 2010, 97 million by 2020 and a shocking 119 million by the year 2030. "We have to be sensible in our growth rate," Mubarak suggested. "It is the responsibility of the whole society; we don't want to become a country which only cares for one 10th of its population and neglects the rest." Moving on to regional issues, Mubarak began by saying that Egypt always "puts our interests above all else and we act with rationality". As the largest Arab country, he continued, "we cannot surrender our principles and values". He strongly condemned the bombing which took place in Riyadh on Saturday night, killing at least 17 people -- including four Egyptians -- as they slept in a residential compound in the Saudi Arabian capital. He described the attack as "a grotesque criminal and terrorist act committed by people who have no conscience or religious values". Mubarak stressed that "terrorism must be handled without mercy", and that Egypt will always "condemn the killing and terrorising of innocents anywhere in the world". The Palestinian issue, which Mubarak described as "at the core of the conflict in the Middle East", was discussed at length during the NDP assembly. Calling the 55-year struggle of the Palestinians as a cause of "lost opportunities", Mubarak suggested that the Palestinians and Israelis must "now show their commitment to achieving a just peace, which will achieve security for both their peoples". Mubarak criticised the way events have unfolded in the peace process and called on each side to "re- evaluate their positions for the sake of the people". Mubarak told the gathering of joint Egyptian- Palestinian efforts at forming a new government under the leadership of former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and the new Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. "Israel must give the Palestinian government a chance to cooperate and sit at the negotiating table once again," Mubarak noted. "This will not happen unless both sides realise the necessity of ending violence from both sides." The president believes that the success of Qurei's government will depend on "Israeli actions", and "a united Palestinian vision". He warned that it was "mistaken and dangerous for each side to insist on faulty [policies] without reaching a just solution". The president suggested that if Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is able to resolve the problems within his government, uphold the security of his people as a priority, while at the same time bring justice to the Palestinians, "he will make progress on the road to peace". He added that Cairo will continue its efforts through consultations with both sides "to defuse the violence and bring the parties back to the negotiating table". At the same time, he also wants to see "other countries in the region" working on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mubarak added that there must be transparency between the parties because "the absence of truth, or attempts to hide it, hinders the abilities of parties which are trying to help achieve peace". He was unsure whether the Geneva initiative would be successful, saying that "although it was issued by a pro-peace group, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell supported it, no one can predict whether it will help the implementation of the roadmap". Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters on Tuesday that, "The United States knows it is an important and opportune time to push the Israeli government to facilitate the restarting of negotiations." A day earlier Maher said that it was necessary for Israel to adopt a positive attitude toward Qurei's government. Maher was speaking after talks between Mubarak and US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Monday. For many months Cairo and Washington have differed on substantive regional issues such as Israel's aggressive policies against the Palestinians and the US-led war on Iraq. Maher noted that "when we have different points of view, it is important to discuss them in the candid and frank atmosphere that prevails in our relations." Armitage agreed, saying that the US was "quite intent to really reinvigorate" ties with Egypt which he described as the "best partner for peace the United States could have". Armitage hoped that the roadmap can be revived once Qurei's government is endorsed -- a move scheduled for yesterday. "We hope there will be a partner that the [Israeli] government will speak to," he told reporters. Armitage, who arrived in Cairo after visiting Saudi Arabia and Iraq, said that he discussed with Mubarak "how to realise the two-state vision" as proposed by US President George W Bush and tabled to become a reality by 2005 according to the roadmap. Armitage's visit came days after Bush, in a major foreign policy speech on 6 November, promised that the US will work to encourage democratic reform in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. Asked if he believes that efforts to encourage democracy are impeded by the Arab- Israeli conflict, Armitage said the US understood the frustrations of people in the region and for "our part we are working on these issues". At the same time, the US envoy praised Egypt's reforms in the economic, political and judicial realms, expressing that "we're thrilled with what's happening internally in Egypt". Responding to Bush's speech, Maher noted on Saturday that, "Egypt has assumed the path to democracy, a multi-party system, freedom of expression and a free press." He was speaking after meeting with US Ambassador in Cairo David Welch. "I don't see any reason for a negative reading of the speech," Maher added. For his part, Welch said that Washington did not wish to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries, but wanted to support positive change. On Iraq -- a blatant example in the eyes of many in the region of US interference -- Mubarak told the NDP gathering that "the Iraqi people are the most capable of effecting change in their country and installing a new regime". There is still opportunity to salvage the volatile situation in Iraq, according to Mubarak, who suggested that a plan to calm the situation, transfer authority to the Iraqis, respect Iraqi values and the people's right to choose their leadership would restore stability. "It is essential that Iraqi land should not be a free-for-all," he said, "and foreign influence from any of Iraq's neighbours should not be allowed". Overall, Mubarak warned against deepening creed and tribal rifts in Iraqi society, greed for power, and disunity. According to Armitage, the US is not yet ready to hand control to an Iraqi authority, but said security measures are not enough to reduce the escalating violence. He added that Iraq's once dominant Sunni minority now find themselves alienated, "so we have to find some way to bring them to an appropriate level of political and economic life". A few days earlier, while in Baghdad, Armitage had observed that the US administration was "sobered" by attacks against coalition troops in flashpoint areas of Iraq. In its effort to provide Iraq with the opportunity to recover from the ravages of years of sanctions and war, Egypt is cooperating with the Japanese to rehabilitate the country's medical sector. And this week, it signed a protocol with Iraq's electricity sector to provide the war-torn country with electric power. Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis and his Iraqi counterpart Ayham Al-Samraie signed on Tuesday a protocol outlining the fields of cooperation on electricity, within the framework of the Madrid conference for the reconstruction of Iraq. Specialists from both countries will work out how best to use Egyptian expertise and the channeling of surplus electricity from the power grid connecting to Iraq. The grid currently connects Egypt and Jordan, and will include Syria and Turkey in the future. "Egypt is ready to assist Iraq's power requirements, especially given Iraq's need to multiply its electricity capability within the next 12 months," Younis told reporters after the signing ceremony. Al-Samraie noted that his country is "counting on Egypt's help and capabilities during this difficult phase we are passing through". He said that Iraq's optimum requirement for electric energy is 22,000 megawatts, but now suffices with 500 megawatts, adding that eight billion dollars are earmarked for investment in the electricity sector in 2004.
