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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Interview Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Summit requires more consultations
By Nevine Khalil
Cairo will continue to "consult and coordinate" with other Arab capitals, including Damascus, Riyadh, Rabat and Amman as well as the Palestinians in the coming few weeks to close ranks on the next moves in regional peace-making. However, President Hosni Mubarak's call last week for a five-way summit bringing together Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians -- Israel's immediate neighbours -- does not appear to be workable in the immediate future.
President Mubarak during talks with Jordan's King Abdullah
Mubarak met with Jordan's King Abdullah in Cairo this week, and Foreign Minister Amr Moussa visited Syria, for talks on the proposed five-way summit. But Moussa said on Sunday that more "consultations at very high levels" are needed before invitations can be issued for the conference.
Mubarak will be meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abdel-Aziz on Friday, will travel to Morocco for talks with King Hassan next Tuesday and meet with Syria's Hafez Al-Assad in the coming few weeks for additional discussions on an action plan following Ehud Barak's triumph in the Israeli elections. Nonetheless, concrete results should not be expected until Barak forms his government and takes a position on peace-making, Moussa cautioned.
The foreign minister blamed the press for "jumping the gun" and making assumptions about a summit being prepared. "While organising summits continues to be an option, there is no agreement yet," Moussa told reporters following Mubarak's talks with the Jordanian monarch on Sunday. Earlier in the day, on a tour of the southern city of Sohag, Mubarak said that he is holding consultations on a five-way summit at the request of Jordan and the Palestinians. He described the summit as "important" to make it possible for the four countries and the Palestinians to crystallise their positions on the peace process.
The president noted that he will not attend a gathering "which will not have a positive outcome or concrete results". At the same time, Mubarak said he was willing to attend any gathering, whether five-way or a full-scale Arab summit, "as long as it is well prepared in advance and produces beneficial results".
The only two Arab countries which have made peace with Israel -- Egypt and Jordan -- saw eye-to-eye during the talks on such issues as relaunching talks on all tracks of negotiations and removing obstacles along the road to peace as well as the right of Palestinians to statehood and self-determination.
Hours before bidding farewell to Jordan's Abdullah on Monday, Mubarak chaired a 90-minute limited cabinet discussion, reviewing ideas on reviving the stalled peace process, inter-Arab consultations and possible future scenarios. The top officials also discussed working papers on Jerusalem, borders, refugees and water issues. Moussa briefed Mubarak on his talks in Syria on Saturday with President Al-Assad.
Syria appears determined not to bury the hatchet with the Palestinians for launching separate peace negotiations with Israel, which it believes caused the Arab position to be weakened in the face of Israeli occupiers. Another reason for Syria's discomfort is what is seen as the too many concessions made by the Palestinians to Israel. Asked whether progress is expected toward a reconciliation between Syria and the Palestinians, Moussa said: "I hope there is something new there... something positive."
Published press reports spoke of a secret deal between the architects of Oslo, Palestinian Abu Mazen and Israel's Yossi Beilin, whose party was out of government at the time, to grant the Palestinians a capital just outside Jerusalem at the town of Abu Dees. Moussa said that the talks were categorised as "secret, only because the press was not invited". He added that Jerusalem continues to be an issue under discussion and negotiation "whether in secret or in the open".
Meanwhile, Barak continues to antagonise the Arabs by making hawkish statements on the peace process, especially on issues related to Jerusalem, settlements, return of refugees and borders. Moussa took Barak to task, saying that his statements "raise many question marks in all Arab and most other capitals", adding that if these statements are turned into policies, "these question marks will become exclamation marks and result in very negative reactions."
Moussa said that there was "an international crescendo against continued Israeli [settlement building] in Jerusalem, which is unacceptable and illegal". The foreign minister noted that the "only encouraging indicator" since Barak defeated Binyamin Netanyahu on 17 May "is the change in leadership from one who said 'no' all the time to one who may say 'yes'."
Mubarak would not disclose his expectations on what the incoming Israeli government under Barak's leadership may do, saying that "we should wait, perhaps the [new] prime minister needs some time." He told a public rally in Sohag that over the past few years "endless efforts" had been made to save the peace process by calling on Israel to implement agreements signed with the Palestinians. He continued that "real progress has to be made first on the Palestinian track" before Syria and Lebanon will come to the negotiating table. "The Palestinian issue is at the heart of the problem in the Middle East," the president emphasised; therefore, Damascus and Beirut "must sense some form of good will" on the part of Israel "before progress can be made on these tracks".
