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| Africa North |
| Egypt will not go to war for Lebanon: Mubarak |
| 2006-07-26 |
| CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak rejected calls for tougher action in response to Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, in comments carried by the state-owned press on Wednesday. “Those who urge Egypt to go to war to defend Lebanon or Hezbollah are not aware that the time of exterior adventures is over,” he told reporters on the flight back from talks with Saudi King Abdullah. Mubarak stressed that throwing the country into a war would be irresponsible when 73 million Egyptians “need development, services, work and housing.” “Those who are asking for war will make us lose all of that in a blink,” said Mubarak, quoted by the goverment Al-Gomhurriya daily. He stressed that he was not ready “to spend the people’s budget on a war... which isn’t their war”. “The Egyptian army is for defending Egypt only and this is not going to change,” Mubarak added. Egyptian opposition parties and newspapers have been very critical of the regime’s stance since Israel launched a deadly offensive against Lebanon following the July 12 capture of two its soldiers by Hezbollah militants. As Egypt marks the 50th anniversary of the Suez canal nationalisation by Gamal Abdel Nasser, critics have accused Mubarak of being subservient to the West and praised Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for daring to challenge Israel. Whilst condemning Israel’s killing of Lebanese civilians, Mubarak also criticised Hezbollah “adventurism”, charging that the Shiite guerrilla group risked dragging the entire region into conflict. Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979 and has been a major mediator in the region’s crises. Mubarak and King Abdullah agreed that their countries would demand an immediate ceasefire during an international crisis conference on Lebanon to be held in Rome on Wednesday. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 You're right, GT - and a lot of others in Islam are thinking the same, no matter how much they get. This is the Mad Mullah Show and their pit |
| Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 2006-07-26 23:28 |
| #10 Yet another translation: We don't want to lose US$2 billion a year because of you retards. |
| Posted by: Glains Threrese9277 2006-07-26 23:20 |
| #9 "need development, services, work and housing.” I figured that after almost 30 years in office he'd finally get around to doing something for the Egyptian people. Any day now. Really. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2006-07-26 21:28 |
| #8 "Those who urge Egypt to go to war to defend Lebanon or Hezbollah are not aware that the time of exterior adventures is over," Translation: The "ass whoopin" we received from Israel is such that, it will be felt, for generations to come. We will wait for the right tour guide before we go on that "adventure," again. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2006-07-26 10:44 |
| #7 Ah, but would Egypt be willing to send "peacekeepers" to southern Lebanon? Since they are at peace with Israel, Israel should have no complaint. And being Sunni Arabs, it would well serve the entire region if they could act against any Iranian Shiite threat. Of course, Hezbollah wouldn't dream of attacking their fellow Moslems, now would they? And, if the whole expedition was paid for by the US and Europe, it would be a good training exercise for the Egyptian military. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-07-26 10:17 |
| #6 Mubarak stressed that throwing the country into a war would be irresponsible when 73 million Egyptians “need development, services, work and housing.” “Those who are asking for war will make us lose all of that in a blink,”,/em> Comments of a true leader. |
| Posted by: Glotle Angong2235 2006-07-26 10:11 |
| #5 That is the smartest thing I have ever heard Mubarak say. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-26 10:10 |
| #4 Mubarak is being sensible, and sticking to the Sadatist notion of putting Egypt before pan-Arab goals. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-07-26 10:02 |
| #3 Israel may want a hudna more than we do now. |
| Posted by: JAB 2006-07-26 09:32 |
| #2 *very unladylike snicker* Although the demands for an immediate ceasefire are the Arabs' way of hamstringing Israel, which always worked well in the past. We are blessed to have Bush and Rice running things, openly declaring that they will not allow a hudna ceasefire be imposed on Israel that allows continuation of an unacceptable situation... and others like Australia's Howard to back them on it, howl though the newspapers may. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-26 09:22 |
| #1 Cold. Really cold. |
| Posted by: Hassan Nasrallah 2006-07-26 08:59 |