An Interview with Mubarak

The Arabs must move faster. To be slow now is dangerous.

Since he became President of Egypt 15 months ago, following the assassination of Anwar Sadat by Muslim extremists, Hosni Mubarak, 54, has tried to re-establish his country's position of leadership in the Arab world. Though he has had his differences with Israel, particularly since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last summer, he remains committed to the Camp David peace treaty with Israel and the U.S. Before leaving for the U.S. for discussions with President Reagan this week, a clearly worried Mubarak talked for 80 minutes with TIME Cairo Bureau Chief Robert C. Wurmstedt about the problems of Egypt and the Middle East. Mubarak expressed confidence that life would gradually improve for his country's 45 million people, but, he added with a sigh, "my job is hard." Excerpts from the interview:

Q. What will you tell President Reagan about the prospects for a peace settlement in the Middle East?

A. We support the Reagan initiative. It is the only thing we can use to push the peace process forward, because nearly all the strings are in the hands of the U.S. Only the U.S. has the power, the influence, the authority to put a peace initiative into action, especially with its close relationship with Israel. The U.S. must help stop these new Israeli settlements in the West Bank. If these settlements continue, what will be left to negotiate in a year's time? How then will we solve the Palestinian problem?

Q. What advice have you given to King Hussein of Jordan and Palestine Liberation Organization Leader Yasser Arafat?

A. King Hussein should sit down with the Arab leaders and find a way to allow the Palestinians to join the negotiations. He should get the approval of the Arabs and go ahead. I advised Arafat to recognize Israel unilaterally. The Arabs must move faster so that we can benefit from the Reagan initiative. To be slow now is dangerous. The Israelis will not stop building these settlements in the West Bank. Also, the U.S. presidential elections are coming, and then all decisions in the U.S. will be paralyzed. If we wait until the elections are over, I'm afraid everything will be liquidated.

Q. What role do you see for President Hafez Assad of Syria?

A. The Syrians don't want to reach any conclusions. They don't want the Reagan initiative implemented. They don't want any solution to the Palestinian problem because they are benefiting in many ways from the state of no war and no peace.

Q. What, in your view, is Israel's strategy in Lebanon?

A. Israel's strategy may be to delay implementation of the Reagan initiative until a year passes, and then it would be very difficult to implement it. But I have heard from the Israelis several times that they are going to withdraw from Lebanon and that they have no interest in staying there.

Q. What is the current state of relations between Egypt and Israel?

A. Recalling our ambassador in Israel after the Beirut massacre was the least we could do in such a situation. We will deal with Israel as with any other country.

Q. What is the chance of good relations between Israel and the Arab states?