Mubarak's role seen as vital for ME peace
Egyptians rejoice Great October Victory
By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—To mark the 32nd anniversary of the victory of Egypt in Great October War, which also makes the occasion as Egypt's Armed Forces Day, The Defence Attaché of the Egyptian Mission in Islamabad; Air Commodore and Madame Eman Salama, hosted a grand reception here at Marriott Islamabad on Tuesday evening.
The reception was overwhelmingly thronged by senior Armed Forces officers of Pakistan, Islamabad-based foreign diplomats, senior politicians, socialites, businessmen and other prominent personalities of the twin cities. Since the reception was held within a very short span of time after President Hosni Mubarak regained the Presidency at Cairo through a landslide victory in the polls, the hot issue amongst the jabbers remained Egypt's political scenario. Most of the Arabian origin guests were of the view that President Mubarak's regaining of the President's slot was really a good omen as his presence there at this particular juncture was very much vital for Middle East peace process. Terming Mubarak as man with steel nerves, majority of Arabian and even Western guests were with the opinion that Egypt, under Mubarak's leadership had a very important role to play for ME peace and that President Mubarak's presence at the helm of affairs at Cairo was even more important at this critical moment because he was the most suitable person, having all the background of the issue very clear to him and because he remained personally engaged in the issue for fairly long time. Praising democracy in Egypt, the guests were of the view that Egypt was making tremendous democratic progress under Mubarak's leadership and was heading towards becoming a model Muslim Democratic State.
The other hot topic was President Musharraf's address to the Jews Congress in New York and Foreign Minister Kasuri's meeting with his Israeli counterpart. Both Western and Arabian guests were unanimous in terming it as a major development. They were heard saying that this was a great initiative on part of President Musharraf as it was the only way that Pakistan could have played some significant role in ME peace process. They were with the idea that President Musharraf's address was a great beginning in removing the religious and social misconceptions between the Muslims and Jews. However they expressed that Pakistan, by no means, through these moves, was heading towards establishing diplomatic ties with Israel and very strongly hoped that Islamabad won't take any decision in this direction in isolation but will take the Ummah into confidence before it as even the recent move had blessings of Palestinians and Saudis.
Expected referral of Iran's nuke issue to the UN also came under discussion. Majority of guests was with the opinion that such a move would be a very, very wrong decision as it would bring a great unrest not only in the region but also across the globe. The guests were of the view that Iran's stand must be respected and the IAEA reports over the issue must be considered final.
The staff of Egyptian embassy and even their families remained busy in looking after the guests and to give personalized attention to everyone. For the media people, it was really a great pleasure to meet the newly arrived Press Counselor of the Egyptian Embassy Mr. Ahmad Nouby Moussa as the Press Counselor's office was lying empty for over a year after Hussain Bramuny left in August 2004. Moussa's arrival brought in a great sigh of relief for the Islamabad-based local and foreign media people. Moussa's professional approach also gave them great satisfaction that they would again be dealing with some real professional who is himself a journalist too.