January  25, 2003

President attends Police Day celebrations

    "The success of the Palestinian National Authority's reform efforts remains contingent on a genuine will on the part of the Israeli government to enter into serious negotiations to establish the Palestinian state, as this is the only way to achieve security and put an end to all acts of violence on both sides," the President said in his speech at the celebrations marking Egypt's Police Day yesterday.

    Mubarak called on influential international powers to put the peace process at the top of their agenda again.

    "Recently, this issue has noticeably regressed in order of priority, as a result of the international campaign against terrorism and the shift in world focus to checking Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability," the President said.

    He added that the Middle East issue is seriously affected by new concepts of terrorism and the measures to combat it.

    "Israel has sought to brand the resistance against occupation as terrorism, to use it not only to change the democratically elected Palestinian leadership, but also exploiting the situation to propose unreasonable conditions for any political negotiations aiming at a settlement," he said.

    The President warned that this negative attitude has been further intensified by the absence of a clear perception as to how to put into effect the American peace vision that aims at establishing the independent Palestinian state through a number of mutual commitments by both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

    "Israel has taken advantage of the international campaign against terrorism to require violence to be stopped by the Palestinian side as a pre-condition before engaging into commitments that might lead to an aspired-for, just and comprehensive peace.

    "Concomitantly, there has been a state of international anticipation of an imminent military action that will negatively affect the whole region," the President warned.

    Mubarak stressed that Egypt will continue to play its leading role in the settlement process, promoting all international efforts aiming to give the Middle East peace process its rightful priority once more, saying:
"This endeavour will continue until the forces of peace have triumphed, the independent Palestinian state has been established, the entire Middle East region declared free of weapons of mass destruction and all peoples of the region live in peace, security and stability."

    As for the calls for the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms in both Arab and Islamic worlds, the President said some countries are using the international campaign against terrorism as a pretext to impose discriminatory measures.

    "These measures include restricting or completing banning the access of Muslims to their territories, limiting their freedom of internal movement and subjecting them to exceptional measures, such as registration or surveillance, not to mention imprisonment and exceptional trials.

    Such practices against Arabs and Muslims severely impair democracy and human rights," he warned.

    "We should seek, on a confident and equal basis, to prove that the Arab and Islamic nation is worthy of every respect and appreciation for its contributions, past and present, to human civilisation at large," he explained.

    In his address, President Mubarak hailed the efforts of the police in Egypt in defending their country and maintaining security.

    Mubarak attributed Egypt's major urban development and substantial economic, investment and trade progress to its strong and disciplined police force.

    "The police have succeeded in breaking up organised criminal gangs, having to keep pace with their increasingly cunning and sophisticated methods.

    They have also managed to single-handedly penetrate terrorist groups and international drug-trafficking gangs; combat financial and moral graft; and curb the spread of new international cross-border crime, which threatens national economies," the President said.

    Addressing the gathering of state officials and police officers commemorating Police Day, the President reiterated Egypt's commitment to combating international terrorism.

    The President called for determining frameworks and principles for international efforts in this field. "We mustn't just combat the problem, but we must also identify the underlying reasons to uproot it completely.

    True, the UN Security Council has issued many resolutions that describe international terrorism as a problem that threatens international peace and security," he said.

    Marking the occasion, Mubarak also honoured a number of police officers, decorating them with state medals, including those killed in the course of their duty, who received their rewards posthumously.