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| The Alliance |
| Mubarak says he's seen no proof |
| 2001-09-21 |
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he has not seen any proof of Osama bin Laden being "the brains" behind the terrorist attacks on the United States and warns Washington against over-hasty reprisals in a newspaper interview to be published on Saturday. "That's what the Americans say and they surely have their reasons," Mubarak told the French daily, Le Figaro. He also strongly criticised Britain's asylum policy for allowing Islamic radicals into the country as refugees. In the interview, he urged Washington not to rush into taking action: "Wait until your investigation is finished. Hold back until you know who the criminals are. If you launch an indiscriminate attack against Afghanistan or one of the other countries on your list of 'rogue states', you are going to kill a lot of innocent people. Just like the terrorists who came to kill innocent people in your country. If the US punishes solely the murderer, then no-one will criticise it and no muslim will accuse it of waging war against Islam because our religion is against terrorists and murderers. But the remedy must not end up being worse than the problem." Mubarak said he believed the current lack of information could not allow one to blindly join the coalition being advocated by US President George W. Bush. He proposed instead an international conference, under UN auspices, which could draw up an agreement declaring terrorism as illegal. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |