President George W. Bush and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak shake hands after their joint availability Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. President Bush visited the seaside town on the final stop of his eight-day, Mideast trip. White House photo by Chris Greenberg Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Has Died. He was 91. …
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Has Died. He was 91.
Hosni Mubarak (b. 1928) was the fourth President of Egypt (1981-2011), and a former Air Force commander and vice president. He ascended to the presidency following the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat by a member of the militant Islamist organization Islamic Jihad. He was reelected in 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2005, the final election marred by supposedly high support for Mubarak but widespread irregularities and low voter turnout. Harvard U.
During the ARab Spring, he was ousted and he and his sons charged and prosecuted for corruption. He was jailed for years, but was freed in 2017 after being acquitted of most charges. Mubarak was a very controversial figure in Egypt. He was U.S. ally in the War against Terror before he was ousted. Below read a transcript of a meeting with President George Bush and Hosni Mubarak, to get a glimpse into the thinking of the time in 2002.
Flashback June 2002, White House: First, I want to thank the President of Egypt for his country’s strong support in our war against terror. I know there’s been a lot of focus on obviously the Middle East, and I’ll mention that in a second, but we’re still in a war against people who want to harm America and people who want to harm Egypt. And we’ve had — we’ve got a good friend, Americans have a good friend, when it comes to this war on terror, in Egypt.
The President understands that we’ve got a long way to go in order to be successful. He’s now been told again by me that my most important job is to secure our homeland, and this country is plenty tough and plenty patient and plenty determined to achieve that objective.
Obviously, we spent time talking about the Middle East, and we share a common vision of two states living side by side in peace. And I appreciated so very much his — listening to his ideas as to how to achieve that objective, that grand goal. The world — the Palestinians hurt, and I know that. And my concern is for the Palestinian people. And my view is, is that if the Palestinian people have a government that is transparent and open and willing to serve the people, Israel will be better off, Egypt will be better off, America will be better off, and we’re more likely to achieve peace. And we discussed how to achieve those objectives.
The President of Egypt has had a lot of experience, and I appreciate his experience, and I appreciate his advice. Anytime he is willing to give it, I’m willing to listen. And so, Mr. President, I want to thank you for your time, and I appreciate your friendship, and welcome you to Camp David.
PRESIDENT MUBARAK: Thank you very much for that. I will deliver my speech in Arabic language.
PRESIDENT BUSH: He’s going to speak in Arabic. That’s good, the American press —
PRESIDENT MUBARAK: I would like to thank President Bush for his welcoming remarks, which reflects the deep friendship between us. During our stay at Camp David here, I conducted extensive discussions with President Bush on a range of issues of mutual concern, most important of which was the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, and especially the Palestinian-Israeli track and its negative impact on regional and international security in general.
There is no doubt that the peace process in the Middle East is passing through a critical junction which requires us to exert all possible efforts on the political and security tracks, to rebuild the confidence between the parties, on one hand, and to relaunch a serious political negotiations aimed at final settlement on the other.
While Egypt’s leading quest for peace in the Middle East has achieved its objectives here at Camp David 24 years ago, we have come back together today fully committed to exert our maximum efforts once again, so that peace and security may prevail in the Middle East region.
And I must affirm here that your personal role, Mr. President, and the role of the United States today remains as important as was America’s contribution towards reaching the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel more than two decades ago. And we look forward to the continuation of the effective role.
The entire international community, ladies and gentlemen, has supported the courageous vision of peace in the Middle East put forward by President Bush in his speech before the United Nations last fall. This vision was adopted by the Security Council in its Resolution 1397, which affirmed that peace in the Middle East must be based on two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side. We in Egypt, and the entire Arab world, support this vision, and strongly believe that it represents the only way to achieve progress towards the settlement of the conflict.
Now it is time to move to implement our common vision, in an effective and systematic way. And we have a strong foundation to implement that vision, and that is represented in the principles adopted by the Madrid peace conference, and supported by the initiative adopted by the Arab League summit conference in Beirut, which affirmed Arab rights, while responding to all Israeli concerns. These are the terms of references that should govern all future efforts.
For us to be able to achieve this vision, the confidence that was lost between the two parties during the previous period must be rebuilt. as we embark on serious political negotiations that will contribute to the realization of our objectives. In this context, Israel must end the siege imposed on the Palestinian people, and withdraw its forces to positions occupied on September 28, 2000; and halt assassinations and the repeated incursions in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority; and immediately halt all settlement activities in the occupied territories, including the illegal confiscation of land and expansion of settlements under the pretext of natural growth or any other consideration.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority must continue to intensify its efforts towards restructuring in a way that facilitates the better performance of its functions based on the principles of transparency and trust, in preparation for the establishment of its sovereign independent state. The Palestinian Authority must continue in its firm implementation of President Arafat’s decisive commitment to halt the violence and intensify the security cooperation and coordination under the supervision of the United States.
It also falls upon all of us, as partners in peace, to work towards alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people, through economic and humanitarian assistance, so as to remove the feeling of despair that stands in the way of reaching the desired settlement.
Mr. President, Egypt and the Arab states have affirmed their condemnation and rejection of the use of force and violence against civilians. Egypt has also affirmed its commitment to continue its major role in the search for peace. At the same time, the United States has affirmed, by putting forward this clear vision for peace, its commitment to effectively play its role in its capacity as the main sponsor of the peace process.
We look forward to a strong American engagement in the coming phase to implement this vision, in the context of an agreed time frame and through negotiations on a permanent settlement that should lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the entire West Bank and Gaza and East Jerusalem. For the settlement to be just and comprehensive, Israel must withdraw from all the Arab territories occupied during 1967, including Syrian and Lebanese territories.
While pursuing our efforts, it must be kept in mind that there are forces that lack the conviction of our joint vision, and will continue to obstruct our efforts to move towards a final and a comprehensive settlement. The way to confront the enemies of peace is to move forward with courage and determination to renew hope to the Palestinians and Israeli peoples in the future, in which prosperity and stability prevail, and away from the menace of violence and confrontation.
My meeting here today with President Bush has reaffirmed our joint determination to revive the hopes of peace through the longstanding partnership between our two countries and through which we have and will continue together to reach historic achievements on the path of peace between Arabs and Israelis for the benefit of the peoples of the region, and also for the benefit of regional and international stability.
The depth of Egyptian-American relations represents one of the essential cornerstones in our joint pursuit of peace and stability in the Middle East. In this context, we discussed today means to strengthen our bilateral ties, including our trade and economic relations, so as to reinforce Egypt’s ability to implement its plans for economic reform and to guide us toward a more balanced trade relationship between us.
Our meeting today coincides with a visit by the United States Trade Representative, Mr. Robert Zoellick, to Egypt, to meet with his counterparts on the Egyptian side, which I hope that it will result in tangible progress in furthering our relationships to new heights.
Mr. President, I look forward to working with you in the weeks and months ahead, to chart the correct path on the road to peace, so that we can complete together the implementation of the mission that we have started together here at Camp David, more than 20 years ago to achieve just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East. I am confident that our joint efforts, supported by a solid determination, will lead us to achieve this goal in the near future. Thank you.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. I appreciate it, thank you.
Q President Bush —
PRESIDENT BUSH: Hold on a second, please. We’ll answer two questions apiece, two from the American side, two from the Egyptian side. I’m going to call on the American first. If you don’t mind, contain your questions to one of us, if that’s possible. And we’ll start with Mr. Fournier, who I know — I know will adhere to that rule. (Laughter.)
Ron Fournier.
Q Mr. President —
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.
Q Do you agree with President Mubarak that there needs to be a deadline for a Palestinian state to give the Palestinian people hope? And on the other hand, I want to know if President Mubarak — the reforms of the Palestinian Authority that you say — that President Bush says will give the Israelis hope, can they be done with Arafat still in charge?
PRESIDENT BUSH: See, it’s hard to reform the press. (Laughter.) It may be harder to reform the press than to implement the needed reforms in the Palestinian territories. Your first question was?
Q Do you agree with President Mubarak that there needs to be a deadline —
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. Here’s the timetable I have in mind. We need to start immediately in building the institutions necessary for the emergence of a Palestinian state which, on the one hand, will give hope to the Palestinian people and, on the other hand, say to the world, including the neighborhood, that there is a chance to defeat — to live in peace, to defeat terror. And that’s important.
I also agree with the President of Egypt that, as we discussed the development of institutions necessary to provide hope and security in the region, that we’ve got to be talking about a political — have a political dialogue. Part of the consultation process that we are having is to determine what’s feasible in terms of that political dialogue, what’s feasible in terms of the timetable that a lot of people are anxious to talk about. We’re not ready to lay down a specific calendar, except for the fact we need to get started quickly, soon, so that we can seize the moment.
And one of the things I’m most appreciative about, about the — about the progress made to date, is people now understand they have responsibilities. As I said in my April 4th speech, I talked about the responsibilities necessary to achieve a vision of peace. And President Mubarak has shown that he is accepting responsibility. He’s very much involved in this process, and he’s very much anxious that we work together to achieve that which is necessary and, to put it in his words, to come up with an effective and systematic way to get to the vision that we’ve — that I’ve outlined.
