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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Ironing out the snags
Ahead of a visit to Washington, which is expected to determine the possibility of reaching a permanent settlement with Israel in the coming few months, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat made a short stopover in Cairo yesterday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak.Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said afterwards that the Palestinian leader would have "important talks" today in Washington with US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. He added that Egypt would "wait for the results of these meetings before speaking [publicly] about the prospects for making progress on the Palestinian track" of the negotiations with Israel.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) office in Washington, Hassan Abdel-Rahman, said that wide gaps continue to separate the Palestinian and Israeli positions. Abdel-Rahman is a member of the Palestinian negotiating team that concluded a second round of negotiations with Israeli counterparts at an air force base near Washington on Sunday.
He said that Arafat would ask Clinton in today's meeting to increase American involvement in the peace negotiations with Israel, to make it possible for the two sides to meet the May deadline for reaching a framework agreement on a final settlement. According to the Sharm Al-Sheikh agreement signed by Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in early September, the two sides should have concluded a framework agreement by February, and a final deal by September. The differences in Palestinian and Israeli positions over thorny final settlement issues, such as the future of Jerusalem, the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees and the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, have now led analysts to question whether the May deadline can be met.
For the PLO, Abdel-Rahman said that Arafat wanted any framework agreement to include the principles that will determine the shape of the final settlement. These principles, he said, are mainly the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 242, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territory, and the exchange of land for peace.
Clinton was expected to raise with Arafat recent proposals by Barak, indicating readiness to accept a demilitarised Palestinian state over 70 per cent of West Bank territory. Barak, according to Israeli press reports, wants to annex 10 per cent of the West Bank, where the majority of Jewish settlements are located, and have additional talks over the future of the remaining 20 per cent. Issues like Jerusalem and the return of refugees would also be postponed to future negotiations, Barak reportedly suggested.
Commenting on these reports, Foreign Minister Moussa said that "we do not see that this is possible or new and it is not accepted by Palestinians." Moussa, however, declined to discuss the reported proposals now, preferring to wait for the results of the Clinton-Arafat meeting.
Protests continue against the new wave of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank which has provoked outrage among Palestinians
(photo:Reuter)
Palestinian sources said that Arafat was keen to reach agreement before Clinton leaves the White House by the end of this year, due to the US president's heavy involvement in the peace process and his declaration in Gaza last year that Palestinians were entitled to have their own homeland.
Meanwhile, Israel's expected withdrawal from southern Lebanon by early July will top the agenda during Mubarak's talks today with Lebanese President Emile Lahud. Moussa told reporters yesterday that he was informed by UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan, during a telephone conversation on Tuesday, of Israel's plans to leave, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 425 and 426. Israel informed the UN on Monday that it plans to fulfill its obligations under the 1978 resolutions, handing the world body the tough task of helping to set borders and ensure security.
Moussa said that UN peace-keeping troops in southern Lebanon were likely to be asked to ensure security there "for a while, and until an agreement was reached with the concerned parties, especially the Lebanese government."
Moussa described the Israeli government's decision to pull out as "an important development," adding that Egypt's position on the matter was no different to the positions of other Arab countries, including Syria, which "consider any Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territory as a positive step."
The Lebanese president is due to arrive in Cairo from Tehran where he held talks with top Iranian officials, including the Supreme Guide of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, and President Mohamed Khatami. The unprecedented visit by a Lebanese president to Iran came following an Arab Gulf tour in which Lahud met with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
Lahud's tour, Lebanese officials said, was an expression of gratitude to Arab countries which stood by Lebanon following the February attacks. Yet the Lebanese president will also ask them to continue their support in the coming stage, which is expected to be critical. Lebanon has adopted a "wait and see" attitude towards Israel's decision to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials want first to make sure that Israel will fully withdraw to the internationally recognised border between the two countries before considering the next step.
Lahud, in his meetings with Lebanese communities in Arab Gulf countries, said that Beirut would not trumpet or praise Israel's decision to withdraw because it should have done so a long time ago. He also insisted that Israel's pullout, when it takes place, will be a victory for the Lebanese resistance which has inflicted heavy losses on occupation troops over the past 22 years.
A UN envoy is likely to visit Beirut soon to inform the Lebanese government of Israel's withdrawal plans. Lahud, in the statements he made during the Gulf tour, also said that Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon alone would not bring comprehensive peace to the region. He said that Israel must also withdraw from the Golan Heights and accept the return of millions of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. Lahud also said that his country will never accept any plans to settle the Palestinians in Lebanon for good.
Hoda Tawfik in Washington, Khaled Dawoud in Cairo
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