Mubarak and Assad consult on response

By Nevine Khalil

Mubarak with Assad during over three hours of talks on the battered peace process

Mubarak and Assad talked for three hours, but the Syrian President apparently continued to have reservations about the Egyptian-French call for an international conference to save the faltering peace effort.

Asked by Al-Ahram Weekly about the Mubarak-Chirac initiative announced in May, Assad would only say that it is still "under study."

Mubarak was asked whether the US was walking out on the peace process and whether a European role could be activated to take its place. "I cannot say that the US is withdrawing from the peace process because it is the cornerstone of this process," Mubarak responded. He cited a statement by President Bill Clinton that the US has not yet "thrown in the towel," adding that "we cannot make the rhetorical assumption that the US has walked out on the process. Activating the European role may help the US but is not a substitute."

Assad's visit came a few days after the Israeli Knesset approved, in the first of three readings, a bill which requires that a national referendum be held before any withdrawal from Syria's occupied Golan Heights. Damascus said the bill was a "declaration of war."

Mubarak described the talks with Assad as a "periodical meeting that does not mean that we are delegated by the Arab world" to crystallize an Arab position. "We talk together, then we consult with [other leaders] if something new comes up," Mubarak said, in an indication that the prospects were dim for an Arab summit to confront Israel's intransigence.

As for the international conference proposed by Egypt and France, Syrian officials fear that it might be used to undermine the fundamentals of the peace process laid down by the 1991 Madrid conference. Syria is "willing to associate itself with new ideas for peace on condition that they agree with its fundamental demands," Assad told reporters last week during his first trip to France in 22 years.

The Mubarak-Chirac initiative for a peace-saving summit was announced during the Egyptian leader's visit to France last May. The proposed conference would not include the parties directly involved in the negotiations -- the Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Israelis -- but rather "world powers which support peace," Mubarak said at the time. Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was in Paris on Monday to explore the prospects of activating this initiative. There is tacit agreement, however, that no action will be taken before Washington announces the fate of its four-month-old proposal for a second Israeli redeployment in the West Bank.

The US suggested a 13.1 per cent withdrawal from West Bank territory to be followed by the opening of negotiations to determine the final status of the Occupied Territories. The Palestinians accepted the US initiative, but Israel continues to balk.