29 November 2001

Burns Meets Egyptian President Mubarak and other leaders

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid and Presidential Counselor Osama al-Baz in Cairo November 29 and discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fight against terrorism, and bilateral economic cooperation.

"We discussed ways in which we can continue to work together to try to help produce a durable ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis as a first step toward the rapid implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell plans in all their aspects and a resumption of a political process based on 242, 338 and land for peace, and ultimately the realization of the vision that both President Bush and Secretary Powell have discussed of the emergence of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," Burns told reporters in Cairo after his meeting with Mubarak.

Burns said the establishment of a cease-fire likely will be a "very challenging, very difficult process," but he added the U.S. government will do everything it can to help the parties make the difficult choices that they will face.

Burns expressed U.S. appreciation for Egypt's support and cooperation in the fight against terrorism and said the United States is committed to strengthening the Egyptian economy as Egypt takes "courageous steps" down the path of economic liberalization and reform.

Burns made similar comments after his meetings with Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Presidential Counselor Osama al-Baz.

Following are the transcripts of Burns' comments after his meetings with the three Egyptian leaders:

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns Press Conference After meeting with President Mubarak At Presidential Palace November 29, 2001 Cairo, Egypt

Good morning, I just had an excellent meeting with President Mubarak. I stressed to the President the importance the Untied States attaches to our partnership with Egypt and especially the importance that we attach to the leadership of President Mubarak. We discussed ways in which we can continue to work together to try to help produce a durable ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis as a first step toward the rapid implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell plans in all their aspects and a resumption of a political process based on 242, 338 and land for peace, and ultimately the realization of the vision that both President Bush and Secretary Powell have discussed of the emergence of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

I also expressed our appreciation to President Mubarak for Egypt's strong support in the international campaign against terrorism since the 11th of September. Finally, I stressed the continuing American commitment to strengthening the Egyptian economy, especially as Egypt continues to move ahead with courageous steps to open up the Egyptian economy. So thank you very much and I'll be glad to take a question or two.

Question: We heard the conflicting reports about the duration of the stay of General Zini in the area, Secretary Powell said that he would stay as long as it takes until he secures a truce but we heard of course that he would be staying for two or four days so how long will he stay?

Answer: I think our commitment, Secretary Powell's commitment, General Zini's commitment is to work very hard in a sustained effort to try to produce that ceasefire as the first step in the process that I just described and we are committed to seeing that process all the way through. I think General Zini will remain very much engaged on the ground as we continue that effort.

Question: So he will not be leaving after two or four days?

Answer: I think its difficult to predict but I think what you are going to see from us is a very sustained and serious diplomatic effort that is not going to be measured in terms of one trip or one period of days. You are going to see our engagement continuing for however long it takes to begin to make some progress.

Question: Could it be a year-long process?

Answer: I think this is going to be a very challenging, very difficult process. We have no illusions about that. But we are going to continue to do our part and to do everything we can to help the parties make the tough choices that ultimately they're going to have to make, to make that process work. Thank you very much.

Good afternoon. I just wanted to say that I had an extremely useful discussion with the Prime Minister and I am very grateful for the time that he devoted to it. We discussed a range of issues that are very important to both of us. I expressed our appreciation again for Egypt's support and President Mubarak's leadership in what is now an international campaign against terrorism. Since the 11th of September I expressed again our deep commitment to pushing ahead in the peace process to working as hard as we can in the United States to bring about a cease-fire that will be durable between Palestinians and Israelis as a first step in the rapid implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell plans and the resumption of political negotiations, and ultimately moving in the direction that President Bush and Secretary Powell have talked about publicly. We greatly value Egypt's continued partnership in that effort.

The Prime Minister and I also had the opportunity to discuss ways in which we can work together to strengthen Egypt's economy-something to which the United States has been committed for a very long time. I think both of us have suffered economically as a result of September 11th. These have created difficulties for both of us, which I am quite certain that we will emerge strengthened from. And the United States is committed to doing everything that we can and to applying as much flexibility as we can to help in Egypt's effort to strengthen its economy, and particularly to be supportive as Egypt continues along a courageous path of economic liberalization and reform. Thank you

Thank you.

Question: Good afternoon Mr. Burns, coming to the region here and saying that this mission is only focusing on the cease-fire matter, is it possible to seek a cease-fire without having any perspective, political perspective, for the Palestinian side?

Answer: No, I think what we're determined to do is exactly what the President and Secretary Powell have talked about publicly, and that's to move toward a cease-fire but as a first step, as a first step in the rapid implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell reports in all of their aspects, the early resumption of a political process, and then moving in the direction of the kind of issues that both the President and Secretary Powell talked about publicly. So we are very committed to moving away from violence but quickly toward a political process. That's very important for the interests of Palestinians and Israelis and I think everyone in this region and everyone who cares about this region.

Question: Did you come further on the pre-condition of the Israeli side of the 7-day complete calm?

Answer: What we are committed to doing is to look very practically at how you move rapidly and effectively into a cease-fire and then beyond that to Tenet and Mitchell and back to a political process. And our focus is working with both parties to find a practical formula to do that.