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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 Summit in sight?
By Dina EzzatEgypt has clearly expressed keenness on seeing Arab heads-of-state -- at least those concerned with the Middle East peace process -- sit together to coordinate positions, given that it is sooner rather than later that Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak will be clarifying his policy on regional peace-making.
But an Arab summit is an objective that seems to be hard to achieve, at least in the immediate future. The simple and obvious reason is that there are enough inter-Arab divisions to ensure that organising a mini or comprehensive Arab summit is no easy task.
"It is very difficult to coordinate an agenda; and we are not yet talking about the recommendations that need to come out of any mini or full-fledged summit," said an Egyptian diplomatic source.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Monday night, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that the Egyptian-Palestinian talks did not touch upon the possibility of holding a five-way summit, or ministerial meeting, to be attended by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. And, on the issue of a comprehensive Arab summit, the foreign minister explained that while President Hosni Mubarak has recently been underlining the need for Arab countries to upgrade the level of their communication and coordination, "no official invitations are being sent out [by Egypt] for this summit."
"To have a summit, much work and consultations will need to be done," Moussa said.
For this "work" and these "consultations" to be conclusive, Egypt will have to, at least, convince the Syrians, and the Lebanese, to coordinate with the Palestinians. This has proved to be a tough job.
Syrian sources say that Damascus has serious doubts about Arafat's real intentions and that, therefore, the "Syrian political leadership" does not feel comfortable to work out a deal with the Palestinian leader. The Syrians are concerned that Arafat may easily break his commitments to them if he is offered a deal by the US and Israel.
While not acting indifferently about the matter, Egypt is obviously not in a position to guarantee results.
Asked if he has been able to convince the Syrians, through a third party, to receive him in their capital for a meeting with Syrian President Hafez Al-Asaad, Arafat told reporters: "I have met with President Asaad several times before and, God willing, I will be meeting with him again."
But Arafat's close aide, Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, had something more straightforward to say on the matter: "While I prefer to talk about the things that we share with the Syrians, rather than the things that divide us, I must say that there are some differences of views with regards to coordination among Arab states."
For now, sources suggest, Egypt will continue to coordinate closely on two bilateral tracks: the Palestinians and the Syrians. "The objective is to make sure that while both sides are not coordinating immediately, they are not clashing -- even unintentionally -- due to lack of communication," one source said.
Moreover, Egypt will be engaged in a trilateral coordination with both the Palestinians and the Jordanians.
But this is not to say that efforts for wider coordination will be put on hold. According to Moussa: "[Those] immediately concerned with the negotiations [with Israel], in other words, the Palestinians, the Syrians, and the Lebanese, need to be well-prepared to go to the negotiating table and discuss details related to withdrawal, [mutual] security arrangements and [future bilateral] relations. Meanwhile, the other Arab countries need to coordinate to provide the Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese with a safety net."
Egypt will also be coordinating with non-Arab parties. Egyptian and French diplomatic officials have been in touch over the matter. Sources suggest that on his way back from his visit to the United States -- where the peace process will figure very high on his agenda -- President Mubarak may stop in Paris for talks with his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac, on regional peace-making. Barak may also visit Cairo in the second week of July.
"We are still cautious about Barak, very cautious; but we have been receiving direct and indirect messages from him that suggest that he is serious about introducing some progress in the currently stagnant situation," said an informed Egyptian source. The source added, "If this is the case, then we are ready to work with him."
