BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday warned that if Israel kills Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during retaliatory raids, violence would increase and the region would be plunged into chaos.
"In the first place, I fear for peace," Mubarak said during an interview with Lebanon's As Safir newspaper. "If they (Israelis) make the mistake of killing Arafat, this means that they committed a crime against the Palestinian people and the Israeli people as well."
Israel has launched strikes against Palestinian targets in retaliation for recent suicide bombing attacks in Israel.
Mubarak said such "an assassination of a state president would lead to chaos that would harm Israel" and it would be difficult to "find someone" who would secure the support of the Palestinian people.
He said in case of Arafat's disappearance, "many new leaders would emerge and would want to win popularity and will race to (carry out) violent operations against Israel inside and outside."
He added, "Then we will enter into chaos and they (Israelis) should understand this and know that this is dangerous."
Mubarak said the crisis will not end and the Arab people "would explode when they would see that Israel being armed and they can do nothing."
"The time will come when the people's patience will run out which would force the governments into an arms race to obtain lethal and biological weapons," he said. "Then the whole region will be threatened with complete destruction, including Israel."
He said since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to power last year, "revenge and strikes have not stopped" and "we need to break this empty circle" which would only possible by going back to the negotiating table.
On Sharon's war declaration against the PA, Mubarak said the Israeli leader "would achieve nothing ... neither security for his people nor stability in the region."
Asked if there was still any hope Sharon would stop its military attacks and start peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Mubarak said: "I hope I am mistaken but from what I see hints that there is no such hope. It is useless as long as Sharon maintains his current policy."
He, however, said the United States and the Europeans should inevitably exert pressures on Sharon to push him into going back to the negotiation table.
Mubarak called for implementing the Mitchell and Tenet reports with the necessary commitment to all peace accords signed before, such as the 1993 Oslo agreements and the 1991 Madrid land-for-peace principle.
He said peace proposals of U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell "are good but the important thing is to implement them" and expressed the belief the U.S. administration can force Sharon to accept them as the U.S. supplies Israel with weapons and support.
Mubarak described Egypt's ties with the United States as "solid and firm based on mutual interests," denouncing recent attempts to "obstruct" Washington's relations with both his country and Saudi Arabia.
On the war in Afghanistan, Mubarak said the Afghans are killing "each other and will not stop," warning the "peacekeeping forces which would go there" as "Afghanistan will not rest."
