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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles 'Turning the wheels'
By Nevine Khalil
Last Thursday's summit, in which President Hosni Mubarak brought together Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, came 48 hours before Arab foreign ministers met in Beirut in a show of solidarity with Lebanon following a spate of Israeli air raids on the southern part of the country.
But for press and media representatives, who converged on Sharm Al-Sheikh, the last-minute cancellation of a scheduled question-and-answer session with the leaders indicated that perhaps not all was well. Before the three men headed for a scheduled news conference after one hour of talks, the Palestinian and Israeli flags were quickly removed from the hall. So, too, were the two podiums which had rested in front of them for use by Arafat and Barak. Sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that Arafat and Barak did not want to answer questions at the present time.
Mubarak, standing between his two guests, said in an off-the-cuff statement that the three leaders "met in a very friendly atmosphere." He also welcomed Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, who stood next to Arafat during the brief media encounter. Last month, Levy strongly criticised Mubarak's surprise trip to Lebanon and his support of Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon. The statement strained relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv, but tension was defused after Israeli envoys conveyed Barak's commitment to the Middle East peace process.
In Sharm Al-Sheikh, Mubarak expressed optimism and "great hopes" that the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks of the negotiations would be revived soon. He said discussions had helped overcome many obstacles and that "the good relations [between Arafat and Barak] are reason for great hope for a solution between both sides."
The president noted that concluding negotiations on all tracks would "bring about stability and the beginning of [all-round] development across the region." Mubarak later told Egyptian television that the meeting was "very good" and that "the wheel [of regional peacemaking] is beginning to turn" once more. Mubarak's chief political adviser Osama El-Baz told reporters that "some kind of progress has been made" between the Palestinians and Israelis, "although this does not mean that everything is agreed upon." El-Baz stated that "if one party signs an agreement and does not honour it, this does not mean that negotiations are frozen." He said Israel had only "a limited opportunity to prove its goodwill in the peace process on [all] tracks."
He added that Arafat and Barak "believe they should not waste their time in debates and differences right now, but should agree on some points and clear the air for final status talks."
