Joint press conference between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Mubarak

11 October 2001

Following the Prime Minister's visit toEgypt for talks with PresidentMubarak both leaders held a press conference to brief the public on their discussions.

President Mubarak

I would like to welcome today Prime Minister Tony Blair on his visit to Egypt, which comes at an important and a critical moment of our intensified international effort to combat terrorism following the despicable terrorist attacks against the United States on the 11th of September. I discussed with the Prime Minister our past experience as a country which has suffered repeatedly from terrorism for a long time prior to the September 11th attack. The main lesson we learned is that we all have to be united and tough in dealing with those terrorist organisations and groups, all countries of the world, large or small, developed or developing, should be committed, through various ways and means in the international campaign towards the elimination of all forms of international terrorism wherever, and by whoever, committed.

We discussed the latest developments in the international campaign to combat terrorism, including the matters taken to apprehend the ... and the present and to present them to justice. We also considered the future measures to prevent the recurrence of such attacks, particularly the need for all states to refrain from financing, assisting or providing safe havens for terrorists under political or humanitarian pretext. In this regard we agreed that the international community should all stand united against the theories of the clash of civilisation and against those who are trying to link terrorism to Islam or the Arab nations.

The Prime Minister and I also discussed the need to urgently address the underlying causes of terrorism through various means, including an international conference under the auspices of the UN to be held in due course. We also agreed on the need to address urgently the deteriorating situation in the Middle East peace process which could be used by terrorists who seek to utilise the prevailing feeling of frustration and despair in the Arab and Islamic public opinion to justify their terrorist activities. In this regard I expressed to the Prime Minister our appreciation for his position in support of establishing a Palestinian State to stand side by side with the Israeli State, both of them fully recognised and living in peace as equal partners. We both agreed to exert our maximum efforts to achieve this objective as soon as possible.

I find it appropriate at this time to reiterate once again our sincere condolences to the families of the British victims of the September 11th attack, and to thank the Prime Minister for his relentless efforts to mobilise an international campaign against terrorism so that all the generations to come would live in peace and prosperity. Mr Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

Thank you Mr President and first of all can I say how grateful I am to President Mubarak for welcoming me here today and how pleased I am to be back in Egypt, and to thank him for his leadership at this difficult time for the international community. The strength of his stand against terrorism and his support for action to bring those who are committing acts of terrorism to justice is hugely appreciated, not just in my country, but I believe throughout the world. Thank your Mr President for that. And in part, of course, this is because of the suffering that has been visited upon people here in Egypt as a result of terrorist acts. So the international community stands united in its efforts to defeat international terrorism in all its forms and I would just like to repeat these three points very strongly.

The first is that whatever people may try to do in this situation, we are determined that this should never be seen as a struggle of Western countries versus Islam. That is not true, never has been true. People of all faiths of all political persuasions. All people who support decent civilised values everywhere stand united against terrorism

The second thing is to say that we understand also how important it is to make sure that at this moment in time, after the 11th of September atrocities that this should not be a reason for letting the peace process in the Middle East decline or wither. On the contrary, we should make sure that we reinvigorate it, and take it forward. There are real issues that need to be addressed, and we intend to address them urgently.

And the third thing to say is this, that we recognise that in this situation the purpose of the terrorists that carried out the attack on the 11th of September was not just to kill large numbers of innocent people, though they did that. Women and children, the blood of many hundreds of Moslems was spilt, in those terrible attacks, but the purpose was not the attacks alone. The purpose was to set in train a series of events that would divide people, divide people Arab and Western, divide people Moslem and other faiths, divide people across the whole of the world. And therefore our response has got to be to say to these people you will not divide us at this time. We know the game that you are playing, we know how you are trying to use and usurp causes around the world to gain your own ends. We will stand united in our fight to see international terrorism defeated and the proper rule of law put in place.

Question

My question is to Prime Minister Blair. Welcome back to Egypt. You have become an active member in a coalition fighting international terror. Isn't this inconsistent with the fact that the United Kingdom has been granting asylum and facilities to terrorist organisation and two elements who have been convicted of terrorist activities in their home countries. How would you explain that?

Prime Minister

First of all I should say to you that we tightened our law last year in part because of the strong representations made from here, and we intend to tighten our laws still further. And I should correct one thing. We do not give support or help to any organisation advancing the cause of terrorism in our country, but there are gaps in our law that it has been necessary to fill, and we intend to do that.

Question

Could I ask both Prime Ministers a little bit more about this United Nations Conference that has been raised. What will its remit be, and will it include the Middle East Peace Process. What do you want to see in practical terms coming from Britain and other countries, President Mubarak, to bring forward the Middle East Peace Process.

President Mubarak

When I speak for the Conference ? International Conference for Terrorism ? I think I have already mentioned that maybe 10 years ago because our experience tells us that terrorism is going to spread all over the world. So the International Conference I am not asking to be held now, but some time after we have considered this problem, to see what measures could be taken from all the countries of the world to get rid of terrorism or to urge these people who will start making terrorism anywhere in the world.

If you are speaking about the Middle East problems, I think we consider, from our point of view, from our experience in this part of the world, that the Middle East problem is one of the problems, it is a unique problem in the world. This problem I am afraid that it may lead to much more generation of terrorist groups in the world. We are dealing with the terrorists in Afghanistan, but without reaching a comprehensive settlement of the problem of the Middle East, I am afraid this will lead to a very bad future on the whole world and there will be no safety on our planet in the future.

Prime Minister

As I think as the President has just said to you, and I totally agree with the words that he has just expressed, any UN Conference on Terrorism is obviously something that the President has raised over a long period of time and that is important to see in the context obviously of the battle against terrorism. In respect of the Middle East, I think what the President is saying, and I agree with him, is that it is important that we put this peace process back on track so that there aren't generations of people who then go and abuse the Palestinian cause in order to commit acts of terrorism. But that, of course, is a separate issue.

Question

The question is for President Mubarak and Prime Minister Tony Blair. President Bush earlier on said that the United States supports the establishment of a Palestinian State and that this has always been a part of the vision of the US Administration. Now my question is, and you, Mr Prime Minister, said that we should not let the peace process to decline. So my question is how can we transform this vision into a number of ideas or formulas, concrete ideas on the ground, especially the very strong feeling in this part of the region that that was a tactical move on the part of the United States and the allies in their attempts to build a strong coalition amongst Arab and Moslem countries.

Prime Minister

The first thing I would like to say to you is that the expression of the view by President Bush, and indeed what I have said on behalf of the UK is actually a long-held position. We have said over a long period, to work out, consider exactly how we take this process forward before discussing the various options. But I have no doubt at all that it is important not just to stability in the region, but for the stability of the world, that we see this process succeed.

And this is not simply something we are saying because of the aftermath of the 11th of September and the need to keep a strong alliance. It is something we genuinely believe, and this has gone back a very, very long time and I think, as I said a couple of weeks ago, if any good can ever come out of an act so evil as the act of the 11th of September, if any good can come out of it, it is that it provides a context in which people do the things that they know they should be doing, but are able to do it because what has happened is so traumatic, so serious, that it allows us to move the whole situation forward. So what I am saying to you is, when the President spoke a moment or two ago about the need to deal with this issue, I think he is right and I think that the words that he is speaking will find an echo right across the world. And how we do this, well that is something we now discuss and debate amongst ourselves before we then tell people the way forward that we believe can be achieved. But I have no doubt at all that it has to be done.

Question

President Mubarak, two of the men who are allegedly involved in organising last month's terrorist attack came from Egypt. ....al-Sawari who was No 2 on George Bush's most wanted terrorists, and Mohammad Attar (phon.) who allegedly flew the first plane into the World Trade Centre.

It raises the question have you done enough, have you been effective here in Egypt at addressing the causes of terrorism?

President Mubarak

[Sought some clarification of the foregoing question]

Question

I am asking the question, two of the men allegedly involved in organising last month's terrorist attacks came from Egypt. .... Al-Sawari, who is now No 2 on George Bush's most wanted terrorists, and Mohammad Attar who flew the first plane, allegedly, into the World Trade Centre. The question is has Egypt done enough to address the causes of terrorism, not what happens to terrorists once they have caught them. But the causes, here in Egypt, of terrorism.

President Mubarak

I think Egypt has done a lot to fight terrorism here, and when terrorism started in 1991 in .... or maybe a little bit before that, we contacted so many countries in the world that terrorism is going to spread all over the world. We have to work, we have to take measures. Most of the countries said, oh Egypt has some eternal problems. They didn't give any attention to what we were saying. Egypt has taken tough measures to fight terrorism since 1991 and even until now we are very strict with that. We are making so many restrictions on that side without touching the property (?) or the freedom that we hold. But we punish those who are committing such crimes and killing people with explosives here and there. Some of them escape to other countries but these people sometimes are going to commit crimes wherever they are.