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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Summit talks
A PALESTINIAN official said a trilateral meeting would be held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh today between President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as an imminent breakthrough in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks looked likely.Official sources in Cairo would only say that Mubarak and Arafat would meet today. "We are apparently on the way to a breakthrough with the Palestinians," Barak told reporters as he held his second summit meeting with Arafat in 14 hours to find a way to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that had broken down on 3 February. The US peace envoy Dennis Ross joined the summit.
A Western diplomat said the leaders would announce the resumption of the talks in Washington but Palestinian officials said they still preferred to hold the talks in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Taba.
Israeli proposals reported to have been presented at the meeting reflected Barak's plan to forge a framework for a final peace deal by May after having missed a mid-February deadline and to achieve a permanent peace deal by 13 September. Israeli diplomatic sources said Barak also presented a confidence-building package including the release of prisoners held by Israel and the opening of a northern "safe passage" between the West Bank and Gaza. One main stumbling block was the timing and exact scale of a third and final land hand-over under an interim accord.
Syria shuffle
SYRIAN President Hafez Al-Assad named Mohamed Mustafa Miro as prime minister-designate after accepting the resignation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Mahmoud Al-Zouebi on Tuesday.The reshuffle, the first in nearly 10 years, was not seen to have an impact on the peace talks and would focus mainly on economic reforms, a task which Al-Zouebi's cabinet failed to achieve, Reuters said, quoting leading Syrian political analysts.
Women's Day
"WOMEN making news" is this year's theme launched by UNESCO to celebrate International Women's Day (8 March). Egyptian women were making news of their own, launching a series of celebrations taking place from 8-16 March, the latter date marking Egyptian Women's Day.Yesterday, at the American University in Cairo, women debated the achievements and challenges Egypt has witnessed since the Fourth International Women's Conference held in Beijing five years ago. A coalition of NGOs will hold celebrations tomorrow at Cairo Library in Zamalek under the theme "For a unified women's movement". Other events include a conference, organised by the National Council For Women, on 12 March.
Sex assault
ISRAELI Transport Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said he would be taking a temporary leave of absence of his duties, after undergoing an official police investigation on Tuesday for alleged sexual harassment.
The incident dominated the news in Israel on International Women's Day (8 March). Mordechai's colleagues said that the former defense minister and leader of the small Centre Party, which joined the ruling coalition government, would have no choice but to resign if the investigators confirm the allegation, Reuters reported.
The Israeli media said that a 23-year-old ministry employee told investigators Mordechai had locked her into his Tel Aviv office a few days ago and tried to assault her sexually.
