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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Focus Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Talks in Sharm
By Nevine Khalil
ON THE eve of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak conferred with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the Aqaba Gulf resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh. The two leaders discussed the stalled peace process, the upcoming Israeli elections, the possible announcement of a Palestinian state next May and the Arab League meeting on Iraq's standoff with the United Nations.
Palestinian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath affirmed to reporters after the meeting the Palestinians' right to declare their sovereign state by 4 May, adding that Egypt "supports the Palestinian position in every way".
According to the time frame of the 1993 Oslo Accords, talks on the final status of the Occupied Territories are to be finalised by 4 May, allowing the Palestinians to declare their state on 5 May. However, the Palestinians and Israelis have not even finished interim talks and, consequently, have not started the final status talks yet. Shaath brushed aside threats by Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon that his government would re-invade Palestinian self-rule areas if Arafat unilaterally declared a state. "This [threat] does not affect our decision," Shaath said, "since the Israelis are occupying our land anyway."
During Saturday's meeting, Arafat briefed Mubarak on conditions in the Occupied Territories after Israel froze the Wye Accord in December, only two months after the deal was signed in Washington. The Palestinian leadership wants the international community to hold Israel responsible for the deadlock in the process, and take steps for the resumption of negotiations between the two sides.
"Israel must respect signed agreements," Arafat told reporters after returning to Gaza. But Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was pessimistic. He said it is "unexpected that the Israeli government will take any positive steps" towards the implementation of the Wye agreement.
During the meeting, Arafat also complained about the use of the upcoming May elections as an excuse by the incumbent Israeli government, headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, for blocking the implementation of the Wye Accord. Shaath said that both Mubarak and Arafat are consulting with Arab, European and American leaders on the issue.
Arafat will meet with US President Bill Clinton in Washington on 4 February, and the next day with European foreign ministers in Frankfurt to discuss the deadlock.
Mubarak was scheduled to meet with Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai also in Sharm Al-Sheikh on Sunday, but Mordechai's visit was cancelled hours before his arrival after Netanyahu fired him. Mordechai had arranged the trip to Egypt without gaining cabinet approval.
Mubarak told writers and intellectuals at the opening of the 31st Book Fair on Tuesday that Mordechai's cancellation was due to "internal affairs [in Israel] and has nothing to do with Egypt". He added that Egypt would welcome any former or incumbent Israeli official in accordance with the peace agreement signed between the two countries in 1979.
"We will receive Mordechai or Netanyahu whether they are in power or not," Mubarak said, citing the example of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres who visited Egypt after leaving his premiership.
