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| By Associated Press February 19, 2005 |
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| AP |
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, reaching out to the region in an unprecedented direct appeal through an Arab newspaper, said he is willing to make painful concessions to end the region's half-century conflict and that he looked forward to improved relations with other Arab countries.
Sharon's interview with Al-Ahram, Egypt's most prominent newspaper, was an attempt to soften the widespread Arab animosity for a man considered a warlike enemy at a time when Egypt is pushing hard for a Mideast peace settlement.
"I want the Egyptian or Arab people to see me as a security man, a farmer and a politician who is looking for stability and peace," Sharon said, according to The Associated Press translation.
The two-hour interview with the pro-government Al-Ahram was conducted in Hebrew in his office in Jerusalem and published in Arabic. It was Sharon's first interview with an Arabic newspaper since he became prime minister in 2001.
"Generals are always seen as people who want wars. The truth is otherwise," Sharon said. "I think it is important ... that our generation who lived through it all really takes over the mission of pushing the peace process."
Sharon's effort to reach out to Egyptians through the interview, came amid a major warming of ties across the region in the past few weeks. In a summit at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, earlier this month, Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed to end more than four years of violence between their two peoples.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II agreed to return their ambassadors to Israel as well. Mubarak, the summit's host, once disparaged Sharon, but in the new atmosphere of optimism that followed the death of Yasser Arafat, called the Israeli leader the region's best chance for peace.
For many Arabs, Sharon is still reviled as a warmonger and a "butcher."
Most scorn him for his role in the 1982 massacres in Lebanon's Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps, where hundreds of Palestinian refugees were killed by Israeli-allied militiamen. Sharon was forced out of his job as defense minister after an Israeli commission of inquiry found him indirectly responsible.
He is blamed by Egyptians for the deaths of many Egyptian POWs during the 1967 and 1973 wars and accused of orchestrating Israel's invasion of Lebanon.
In September 2000, Sharon infuriated Arab Muslims with his visit to holy shrines in Jerusalem. Riots followed, and grew into the Palestinian uprising. Following the visit, a new wave of ant-Sharonism sprouted, including campaigns to boycott a detergent soap that carries his name: "Ariel."
His visit earlier this month to Sharm el-Sheik prompted two days of demonstrations at universities and professional unions in Cairo and other cities, with protesters calling his visit a "shame" and a student statement to the prosecutor general demanding that Sharon be arrested and tried for war crimes against Egyptians.
But in the interview published Saturday, Sharon recalled a different visit. In 1981, when he was agriculture minister, he was invited by late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to help "develop agriculture and the rural areas in Egypt." The visit resulted in years of successful cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture, the mainstay of many Egyptians.
Sharon recalled being flown to an area on the border with Sudan by two Egyptian air force pilots who had fought in the wars against Israel.
"I said in my youth this is what creates peace. An Israeli minister who was a commander of forces ... sits in a plane with two pilots who attacked his forces a short while before. Here they are together on a mission to search for arable areas for the production of food. This way, I saw peace."
Sharon said he returned to Egypt in February this year as a politician, after having met fighters and farmers alike.
"Now, I returned in the Sharm el-Sheik conference as a politician, with great faith and determination that in cooperating with President Mubarak we can take the opportunity to push the Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian people forward, toward a future characterized by calm, security, peace and regional welfare," he said.
Sharon said that he has the impression that Abbas is ready to help in that goal.
He hinted that he would like to see a Palestinian state established during his term in office -- saying he has no intention of leaving office soon -- but stressed that Israeli security was foremost.
"I am determined to exert all efforts to reach a political settlement," he said. "I can offer painful concessions for a real peace, peace for generations to come. But I am not ready to offer any concession when it comes to the security of Israeli citizens."
He refused to discuss traditional sticking points in the peace negotiations, including the fate of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees and the border.
However, he did say the controversial barrier Israel is building to separate itself from the West Bank will not mark the borders of the new Palestinian state.
Sharon also said there are contacts with a number of Arab countries to forge diplomatic ties, saying that he thinks relations have improved lately and hopes they will continue to improve with other Muslim countries.
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