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Egyptians, Arabs extensively covered the U.S. election
Betsy Hiel is a Middle East correspondent for the Tribune-Review. She can be reached via e-mail.
"I am pleased to congratulate you on your re-election as U.S. president," Mubarak said in a statement to Bush. He stressed that the United States and Egypt have always enjoyed good, unique relations that were strengthened in Bush's first term.
Egypt has long played a central peace-making role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has worked with the Bush administration in its war on terror. Many Egyptians and Arabs believe the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict is at the core of the region's problems.
Mubarak expressed hope that Bush will re-engage dead-in-the-water Arab-Israeli negotiations, bringing a "just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East by establishing a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel."
Commentators on the Arabic language television station Al Jazeera quoted Palestinians expressing hope that a second term will free Bush from re-election constraints in securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. They pointed to similar efforts by President Clinton in his second term.
Arab commentators also expressed concern over the region's bloodshed of the last four years, particularly in Iraq.
Arabic newspapers covered the U.S. elections extensively. Some coverage even overshadowed the death of Sheik Zayid bin Sultan al-Nayhan, who ruled the United Arab Emirates for more than 30 years.
Arabic television stations provided extensive coverage of the U.S. presidential election throughout Tuesday night and yesterday, including in-depth analysis, electoral maps and explanations of the U.S. electoral system.
In an interview on Iraq's Al Arabiyya TV, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh predicted on election night that U.S. policy in Iraq likely would remain unchanged, no matter which candidate won. "Supporting Iraq and the Iraqi people against terrorism and extremism is fixed in the politics of the United States because (America's) security and political interest demands it," Saleh said.
Mubarak said he hoped that "security, stability and sovereignty would be restored in Iraq" and that Bush will do more to "rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction."
He said it is important for Bush to continue fighting terrorism and violence and urged the president to do so by "dealing actively with its root causes" by overcoming the "political, economic and social problems facing people."
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