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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 'Seizing the moment'
By Nevine Khalil
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her tour in the region last Thursday by visiting Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East peace process, Sudan, Iraq and bilateral relations. Arriving in Sharm El-Sheikh after talks with Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Albright secured a commitment from the three leaders that talks on the soon-to-be-resumed Syrian-Israeli and problematic Palestinian-Israeli tracks would be fruitful.
"This region, which is the birthplace of three religions, is at a historic crossroads," she told reporters after one hour of talks with Mubarak. "I believe that we can seize the moment and help make the year 2000 a year of peace in the Middle East, insha'allah [God willing]," Albright said.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa congratulated Albright on her "good work," which he described as "a big step forward", adding that President Mubarak was "very happy with the progress achieved." The secretary of state lauded Mubarak's "skilled leadership and wise counsel," adding that Egypt, "as the pioneer of the peace process, will have an essential role to play in the intensive months to come."
Asked by Al-Ahram Weekly why she believes that a mid-February deadline for a framework accord on final status issues will be met, Albright said that although the Palestinian-Israeli track had missed "the occasional deadline," the two parties had resolved some issues, including land transfer, the release of prisoners and the opening of a safe passage, "through talking on a sustained basis."
Albright noted that progress on the two tracks should also spur the resumption of talks on the Lebanese-Israeli track as well as multilateral negotiations to draw up the features of a regional order after a comprehensive peace is reached. She said that Mubarak agreed with her that "multilateral talks should resume as soon as possible." Albright warned that in the absence of progress in the peace process, "there is no such thing as the status quo; you're moving backwards."
The top US diplomat was in the region to assess the situation in the Palestinian track as well as the possibility for a revival of the Syrian track. She detected "a different mood" as soon as she began her tour in Saudi Arabia on 6 December. Albright described the agreement on re-launching the Syrian-Israel track, which had ground to a halt in 1996, as a "very hopeful development" because it indicates that Al-Assad and Barak "are determined to reach an agreement quickly."
There was also determination for "good faith negotiations" on the Palestinian track in order to reach a framework agreement on permanent status issues by 15 February, "even though there are issues which are of concern to [Arafat]." Such issues include the continued building of settlements by Israel, which Albright cautioned against. "The issue of settlements is obviously very sensitive... We have been concerned... and have indicated that it really complicates the discussions," she said. Albright said that settlements should be discussed between the two parties in the final talks and also commended Barak for the "significant steps" taken to limit certain settlement activities.
Arafat was in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss developments in the peace process on the heels of Albright's tour, including the February deadline and the relaunching of talks along the Syrian track. In an hour-long meeting with Mubarak, he discussed ways of resolving problems obstructing negotiations on the Palestinian-Israeli track, including the delay in Israel's implementation of the second phase of redeployment in the West Bank and in the release of a third group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with last September's Sharm El-Sheikh agreement.
Upon his return to Gaza, Arafat said that he looked forward to the relaunching of the Syrian track and hoped that Isreali-Syrian negotiations would prove sucessful. He hoped also that this would be followed progress on the Lebanese track.
On Thursday, both Moussa and Albright agreed that the revival of the Syrian track will not be "at the expense" of the Palestinians, cautioning against "the either/or approach."
"There is no competition between the tracks; in fact, they can support each other," Moussa said. Albright affirmed that "the Palestinian issue is at the core of achieving a comprehensive peace."
The bilateral issues which Albright discussed with Mubarak included the investigation into the crash of EgyptAir flight 990 off America's eastern coastline on 31 October. "We have been working very closely together to find out what happened," she said, emphasising that the US-Egyptian investigation "is being conducted in a thorough and scientific manner."
