Ambassador Shoukry to Kansas City Star: Palestinian state key to Mideast peace

14 May 2009

“With the Palestinian question still unanswered, the threat of increasing violence will continue to vex the Middle East”, says Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States. Sameh Shoukry, who was posted to Washington in September 2008, told the Kansan City Star reporter Scott Canon that peace cannot come without a Palestinian state. The Ambassador will be in Kansas City on Thursday May 14th to speak to the International Relations Council. The dinner at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center hotel starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $55 for council members and $60 for nonmembers.

Below is the exchange that the Ambassador had with the paper:

Q: Jordan’s King Abdullah warned that failure to reach a peace agreement will lead to war between Israel and the Arab world within 18 months. Do you agree?

A: We don’t anticipate a war between states. Maybe what the king was referring to was an escalation in violence in the (Israeli-) occupied territories. As far as Egypt is concerned, we have a treaty with Israel that has held for the last 30 years. We hold the peace very dearly as a strategic choice. But there’s a great deal of frustration in the Arab world and the Islamic world because of the lack of progress toward a Palestinian state. (It) might be vented in violent actions on the occupied territories.

Q: President Hosni Mubarak has been in power for 27 years. From the West, economic and democratic reforms seem awfully slow. Are we missing something?

A: That’s a mischaracterization. We have a very vibrant political system. The Parliament is almost a quarter opposition members. Freedom of expression is widespread. There are 70 publications, many of which criticize the government on a daily basis. We have established a national human rights council to be a watchdog. Economic reforms have protected us, to a great degree, from the current economic crisis. We are committed to economic reform despite the economic crisis and are devoted to liberalizing our economy.

Q: But doesn’t the Egyptian government still regularly jail political opponents?

A: There are jailings of anyone who goes beyond the confines of what is legally acceptable. But nobody has been put into jail for advocating ideas or for opposition activities. It is only when such activities are contrary to legal norms and laws, as anywhere else in the world, that those who go beyond the law are held accountable.

Q: There are increasing reports of Egyptians traveling to Iraq and now to Afghanistan and Pakistan to work with al-Qaida. Why does the country seem to be such a rich breeding ground for al-Qaida?

A: I don’t think we can say Egypt is a rich breeding ground. It’s a matter of proportionality, to a degree, of population (82 million in Egypt). There are those who are misguided and are more susceptible to radical ideas and joining such organizations. The vast majority of Egyptians are moderate and recognize the threat of terrorism. We’ve had to cope for a long time with the consequences of terrorism perpetrated by radical elements and fundamentalists on our own soil. We know how damaging those activities are.