HOSNI MUBARAK: An Urgent Call to Negotiate

Q. Is war unavoidable?

A. We can avoid war. It is not that difficult. It depends on President Saddam Hussein. He should respond to the pressures to save his country and his people. War is a tragedy, a disaster. I can’t understand why he doesn’t realize what would happen if war broke out.

Q. But time seems to be running out.

A. He should understand what is happening in the world. His advisers should have the courage to persuade him to respond to international public opinion. This is the first time since World War I that nearly all the countries in the world are standing against the invasion of one country by another.

Q. Do you accept the possibility that force might have to be used?

A. I hope from my heart that we don’t reach the point of using force. I hate war. But as a military man, I fear we are moving toward war. One word from Saddam Hussein would stop this catastrophe: Withdraw.

Q. Could this confrontation have been avoided?

A. I tried several times. I suggested a summit. I whispered in the ears of King Hussein that if President Saddam showed flexibility in withdrawing his forces and restoring the legitimate government of Kuwait, then we would put ! Arab forces in a buffer zone and start negotiations between them. I think the world would have respected this. King Hussein told me that Saddam agreed to a summit. When I asked him about withdrawal and restoration of the Kuwaiti government, King Hussein said he hadn’t discussed those points. So I said how can I invite the heads of state to a summit? What am I going to tell them?

Q. Did you see any signs before the Iraqi invasion that it was going to take place?

A. I didn’t have even the slightest thought that one Arab country would swallow another. I thought President Saddam was very reasonable.

Q. At the Arab summit meeting in Baghdad last May, Saddam threatened to use the oil weapon against the U.S.

A. I heard that from several heads of state. I’m used to hearing it every now and then. I did not think it was a signal that something was going to happen.

Q. Did Saddam assure you that he had no intention of invading Kuwait?

A. Yes, yes. He promised that he was only making a threat and he was not going to go beyond that. We were sitting tete-a-tete, just the two of us, and he said exactly that.

Q. Do you think anybody outside Iraq knew of his plans?

A. I heard some rumors that two other heads of state knew about it beforehand. ((Although Mubarak would not specify, he is known to believe that the two were Jordan’s King Hussein and President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen.)) But even if I had been told this before the invasion, I would never have believed he would do it.

Q. Do you see any solution to this problem other than Saddam’s withdrawing his forces and resolving his differences with Kuwait in negotiations?

A. I advised President Saddam even before the invasion that his problems with Kuwait should be solved by negotiations. I told him he should realize that the problems would not be solved in two or three meetings and that some other heads of state were prepared to intervene to reach a good result for both sides.

Q. What sort of negotiated settlement is acceptable to you?

A. Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait. If Saddam Hussein agrees to evacuate, I will be the first to call for all foreign forces to leave the region. Then we shall replace them with Arab troops. Once the Kuwaiti government is restored, the problems between Iraq and Kuwait can be resolved in negotiations.

Q. Henry Kissinger, for one, has said that if sanctions and diplomacy fail, the U.S. should consider a surgical and progressive destruction of Iraq’s military assets.

A. I care for the Iraqi people. I want them to be spared the miseries of war. I hope this can be avoided.

Q. Some Americans have suggested the Arab countries should be doing more to defend against the threat of Iraqi aggression.

A. Egypt, Syria and Morocco have joined the gulf countries in sending troops to Saudi Arabia. If King Fahd asks us for more troops, I am prepared to send them immediately.

Q. What can be done to overcome the divisions in Arab opinion toward Iraq?

A. I regret any divisions in the Arab world. But I also believe that if you are right in your judgments, time will heal everything. To us it is a question of principle. Those who disagree today will come back tomorrow.

Q. What about the political future of the region? How will the crisis affect the Palestinian problem?

A. If this crisis could be solved, I think it may be a little bit easier to address the Palestinian problem.

Q. Why?

A. People in this area will realize that negotiations are the best way of solving problems, rather than launching war against each other. For the time being, Palestinians are divided by Yasser Arafat’s support for Iraq. But I think all of them will have to go back to the negotiating route after this crisis is over.

Q. Will your improved relations with Syria help?

A. I can’t foretell what will happen. I know that when our two countries are friends, it is good for the Arab world.

Q. You have been accused by Arab critics of being an American puppet. Now that you have deployed troops to Saudi Arabia and you are assisting in the American military buildup, how do you respond to that?

A. I never respond to it. We are not puppets. We have our own interests, and we are not controlled by any country. We have good relations with America, with the Soviet Union, with Europe, with the Eastern bloc, with the African continent, even with the Arab world. Egypt is Egypt. Egypt will never be a puppet for anybody, and those who are saying this know it perfectly well.

Q. But many Arabs are disturbed by the presence of foreign forces in Saudi Arabia.

A. What could the Saudis do? When your country is threatened, you have to protect yourself. Many nations over the years have called for help from foreign armies. Even Egypt brought in Soviet troops after the 1967 defeat by Israel.

Q. What does Saddam Hussein want out of this?

A. I really don’t know. Probably money and power.