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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Closing Arab ranks
By Nevine KhalilWhile calls for organising a comprehensive Arab summit crescendoed this week, Egyptian diplomacy worked actively to bridge inter-Arab divisions to open the way before the conference. President Hosni Mubarak held talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Tuesday to discuss the summit's prospects and the situation in the stalled Middle East peace process. Arafat described the talks as "productive", and expressed hope that a full-scale summit can be held "as soon as possible".
Mubarak had said earlier this week that convening an Arab summit was an "unavoidable necessity at this point". He noted that the Arab front is currently "torn up [because of] pressing challenges which require Arab leaders to meet at the first possible opportunity."
For the Palestinians, the top issue at the proposed summit will be the prospects of declaring statehood, after they abandoned the target date of 4 May in order not to negatively influence the outcome of Israeli elections. "There are major commitments outstanding; foremost is the announcement of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," noted Arafat's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeina. Other Arab countries, however, believe that the proposed Arab summit will not only address the challenges facing the peace process, but will also discuss "the overall Arab situation", Mubarak said.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa explained that "issues, other than the peace process, are at stake in the region." Moussa also said that the summit should not be expected too soon. "The summit will not necessarily be held within a day, a week, one month or two," he said, "but sometime in the conceivable future."
A full summit is unlikely, however, until after Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak forms his coalition government in the next two weeks. "We first need to be certain of the policies of the new government," said Moussa.
Already, numerous consultations on the summit are taking place between government leaders in the Arab world. Over the past few weeks, Mubarak held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Jordan's King Abdullah, Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika and Morocco's King Hassan. He is also expected to meet soon with Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad.
"These contacts confirm that Arab leaders are willing to meet," Mubarak said. "There is a general agreement on this." Arafat agreed, declaring that "so far we have had relatively positive responses."
Egypt occupies centre stage in these consultations because Mubarak was the chairman of the last Arab summit which was held in Cairo in 1996, soon after outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came to power. Either Syria or Saudi Arabia is suggested by some circles to be the next host of the proposed summit. Mubarak said that the next summit could be held in "any Arab country".
Convening a full-scale summit has delayed, but not completely cancelled out, the possibility of holding a five-way summit bringing together Israel's immediate neighbours. The smaller summit, which was to include Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinians, was put on the backburner because of objections from Damascus. Syria is critical of the Palestinians for launching separate peace talks with Israel and making what they see as too many concessions to the Israelis in the negotiations.
After much hype in the press of an imminent five-way meeting at the level of heads-of-states and governments, the summit was demoted to a gathering of "representatives of the five parties".
"A full summit does not exclude coordinating on a five-way scale at any level," Mubarak said, "but not necessarily at summit level."
According to Moussa, organising a full-scale Arab summit would cancel out the possibility of convening the five-way summit in the near future. "If we are talking about a full-scale summit, there is no need to discuss a [five-way] gathering," the foreign minister said.
From Cairo, Mubarak and Arafat spoke to Israeli President Ezer Weizman by telephone to congratulate him on his 75th birthday and discuss the current situation in the peace process, emphasising that all tracks of negotiations must be activated soon. Mubarak told reporters that all tracks must be activated simultaneously in order to "liberate all Arab territories". "Our priority, very clearly, is all tracks, even though the Palestinian issue is at the heart of the conflict," he added.
Hours before meeting with Arafat, Mubarak also spoke to Barak by telephone and agreed to receive the new prime minister as soon as he forms a government. Barak assured the president that he will relaunch and reactivate the peace process as soon as possible.
"We are waiting to see the formation of the new government," Mubarak told reporters, expressing hope that Barak would reactivate the peace process quickly. "Wasting time and freezing the peace process negatively affects the situation in the region as a whole and the future of peace," the president warned.
After discussing what is expected of Barak once he forms his coalition government, Mubarak and Arafat agreed that many issues will depend on the make-up of the new Israeli government which should be finalised by 8 July. "The policies, not only the composition, of the new government and its actions are also issues to be considered," noted Moussa.
