28 January 2002

Bush Phones Mubarak to Discuss Arafat and Terrorism

President Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden January 28 that in a phone call to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak earlier in the day, "I told him that in order for there to be peace in the Middle East, we must rout out terror wherever it exists. And the U.S. effort to rout out terror around the world is going to benefit the Middle East in the long term."

Bush said that "It is important for Mr. Arafat to not only renounce terror, but to arrest those who would terrorize people trying to bring peace. There are people in the region that want there to be a peaceful settlement, and yet obviously, terrorists are trying to prevent that from happening by wanton murder. And Mr. Arafat must join the effort to arrest them."

The President also noted that "when the ship showed up with weapons obviously aimed at terrorizing that part of the world, I expressed my severe disappointment because I was led to believe that he was willing to join us in the fight on terror.

"I took him at his word at Oslo," said Bush. "And so I made this very clear to my friend Hosni Mubarak, that ridding the Middle East of terror is going to make it more likely that there would be peace and stability in the region."