The pleasure of diplomatic life
"The pleasure of diplomatic life," he says "is that you feel you're carrying a message with responsibility toward the interests of your country and the interests of all Arabs. We carry the responsibility of our main issue, which is the Palestinian issue. All of us carry this message and we have to be useful, doing our best to gain the support of public opinion."

He believes that “peace for the Middle East is peace for all the world since it is the crossroad between cultures of the East and West, north and south.” Interestingly he adds, "Second are the interests of your own country in bilateral relations with the country to which you are posted in many areas--cultural, political, economic, tourism, trade and investment."

Palestine and Israel
I asked the ambassador how he reconciled his dedication to the Palestinian issue with Egypt's recognition of Israel. "To get a solution to the Palestinian issue," he says, "you have to understand very well where you are standing; and how the times change. In the 1950's, it was not like the 1960s, and the 1960s were not like the 1970s."

Clarifying his point, he says, "In the earlier years, we were involved in a military conflict; but now we are involved in the 'peace conflict', which is the settlement of the Palestinian and Arab conflict in other ways.”

He insists, "Our struggle now is for peace, which is more difficult. We can't call the issue just Palestinian. It is the settlement of the Middle East at issue. The recognition of Israel transferred the military conflict to the peace conflict, which is a conflict about how to reach a final solution."

Recognition of Israel has caused problems for Egypt with other Arab countries. "We have had criticism and been out of the Arab League, which has been transferred to Tunisia. Some countries understood, but others were more radical, and we were criticised by those countries."

Criticism has been minimised after that because "we are still an Arab country, we cannot deal without others, and they cannot deal without us. Many countries were moderate even though public opinion could not accept the idea."

Being in Darfur
One of the highlights of Ambassador Salama's diplomatic career came with the signing of the Darfur treaty. "At that time, I was heading the Egyptian delegation, and many of us from different countries worked very hard to get the group together until we reached agreement."

He had another special moment when he was in Libya. "At that time, Libya was freed from the embargo, and I was there as Deputy Head of Mission. We restructured the Organization of African States.

Diplomats have to make sacrifices, according to the ambassador. “You have no life for yourself. Your life is for your country. Sometimes I don’t see my family for a long time, and I have to sacrifice being away from my friends and my country

China and Brazil
Among his ambassadorial assignments, he has found two cultures most interesting: the Chinese in Hong Kong and the Brazilian in South America. He was in Hong Kong just before the hand over of the colony from Great Britain to China. “It was a mixed culture; the Hong Kong Chinese are not Eastern and they’re not Western. It’s a very powerful structural body with the roots of all civilizations and traditions; and the culture is very rich. At the same time, Hong Kong Chinese have the mind of the Western culture.”

Ambassador Salama felt that this cultural mix made “Hong Kong one of the most interesting and successful financial centres of the world. It’s an island without resources except for the people who are hard workers, and at the same time liberal, open minded and transparent.”

H E found Brazil, in a completely different part of the world, had its own unique attraction. “The culture is a mixed culture of Asians, Indians, Europeans and Africans. You find in Brazil a culture of different human beings from those found in other parts of the world. The country has a global mentality. You find the global culture in one person in Brazil. You can even find Arabic culture in the mix. You can recognize it in the food and music.”

“When you speak with a Brazilian, you feel like you’re speaking to the global man with one language-Portuguese.” Ambassador Salama speaks Arabic, English, French and Portuguese, the language of Brazil. Combining his fluency in all of these languages reflects the same kind of cultural diversity in one person he found in Hong Kong and Brazil. Now, in Bahrain, he finds himself at another cultural crossroad.

The greatness of Egypt
Apart from his interests in cultural variety, H E is proud of all that Egypt has to offer to its visitors. “Egypt’s government provides all facilities for the business person. It has regulated procedures for foreign investors and a huge market of 80 million people. For tourists who want culture and history, they will find 7000 years of civilisation. Egypt also has many facilities for those who like sports, sailing or scuba diving.”

Ambassador Salama’s wife is also an ambassador, currently posted in Bulgaria. They still manage to get together for holidays. Their favourite holiday spot is Alexandria with its lovely weather and fine beaches. They have two grown sons living in Cairo.

H E spends his spare time playing tennis, swimming, reading and—when he can—going to the opera. Apart from reading political works and history, he enjoys Arabic poetry and the novels of Ernest Hemingway and Najib Mafooz. His favourite Egyptian food is falafel.

Ambassador Salama is a sportsman who keeps fit and is full of energy for the cultural crossroads he encounters as a diplomat.