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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The dash ahead of the deadline
By Nevine Khalil
While in Washington at the end of last month, President Hosni Mubarak was asked to assist as much as possible in restarting the stalled talks on the Syrian track. Since January, there has been no movement at all. Egyptian diplomatic sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that Cairo has been actively pushing for a break-through for some time.
The wait, however, may be coming to an end. Damascus knows that a unilateral Israeli withdraw from southern Lebanon will soon be a reality. Once completed, Syrian leverage in the Golan negotiations will be seriously diminished.
That is precisely what Damascus does not want. "We will not accept the implementation of [the withdrawal] as the end of the road, or a way of avoiding a comprehensive peace," asserted Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara'a on Monday in Cairo. Al-Shara'a said that while contacts continue with the US administration to coordinate on the Syrian-Israeli track, they tend to "hit rock bottom sometimes."
During the over two hour Monday talks, Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Hafez Al-Assad coordinated their current positions and future actions in the peace process. The meeting came less than a week after the foreign ministers of Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia met in Palmyra to discuss maintaining a unified Arab bloc in regional peace-making. During the Mubarak-Assad meeting, it was decided that the foreign ministers of the Damascus Declaration states -- the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt and Syria -- will meet in Cairo in the first week of June. Preparations are also underway for organising a full-fledged meeting of Arab foreign ministers soon afterwards.
Al-Shara'a told reporters that the meetings may also result in "even higher level gatherings" -- an indirect allusion to a possible Arab summit. The last Arab summit was held four years ago in Cairo, but it has been difficult since then to whip up enough support or interest among Arab leaders to hold another full-fledged gathering. Although less severe, bitterness over the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait continues to cloud the inter-Arab climate.
As the two presidents went into a third session of their Cairo talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told reporters, "Both leaders are in complete agreement on the framework and basis of the peace process." He pointed out, "There is also agreement on the necessity of Arab coordination on all levels." Standing by his side, Al-Shara'a emphasised the "importance of this moment for the peace process."
Al-Shara'a put the blame for the lack of progress in the peace process squarely on Israeli shoulders. Drawing a bleak picture of the situation, he concluded, "The peace process is going through a very complicated phase and the obvious reason is [Israel]." Al-Shara'a added that while all Arabs are talking about peace, Israel "is trying to evade the requirements for peace." He noted that the Barak government "is not in serious and earnest pursuit of a comprehensive peace."
Al-Shara'a said that Damascus's commitment to peace making is "out of conviction that it is the only way to change the unstable conditions in the Middle East," and he suspects Tel Aviv wants to settle for half-measures. He said, "Israel claims it wants to withdraw from Lebanon without peace guarantees or negotiations, but this is a trick." The Syrian Foreign Minister believes Israel will use the unilateral withdrawal as a tool to avoid achieving a comprehensive peace and to "threaten the legitimate right of resistance" -- an allusion to the Syrian-backed Hizbullah guerrillas fighting Israeli occupation.
According to Moussa, spasmodic violence in southern Lebanon since the collapse of talks on the Syrian track has augured ill for the future of the peace process. Negotiations on the multilateral track were frozen soon after their resumption in Moscow in February because of Israeli attacks against southern Lebanon. Moussa stated that Arab public opinion is "not receptive" to normalising relations with Israel because of its procrastination with the Palestinians and aggressions against the Lebanese. "There is general discomfort in Arab circles for what took place in the Syrian-Israeli negotiations, and what is happening on the Palestinian track," Moussa asserted.
According to Moussa the necessary first step to ending the violence in Lebanon is "complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory to the internationally recognised Lebanese border." Al-Shara'a expressed Syrian support for a strong UN role in Lebanon after the July pullout. His statement affirmed the Syrian commitment to the proposed UN Interim Force in Lebanon officially endorsed by the Damascus Declaration states. These states maintain such a force would effectively allay fears of continued violence in southern Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal.
Also on Monday, Mubarak received a telephone call from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to discuss all tracks of negotiations. The Israeli leader briefed Mubarak on his talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Sunday night in Ramallah. Arafat met Mubarak in Cairo yesterday to provide his views on the talks.
During one hour of talks, Arafat complained of "no progress and no movement", expressing concern that the 13 May deadline to reach a framework agreement on final status talks with Israel will not be met.
"No positive steps will be made in the next few days," Moussa told reporters, "including meeting set deadlines". He noted that this would be the third time that scheduled deadlines are not met, but noted that the September deadline for the declaration of a Palestinian state, "still stands".
"The status quo is worrisome for the process as a whole; if it continues it will be difficult to reach a permanent peace," stressed Moussa. "Israel is trying to circumvent the land-for-peace formula and this is unacceptable and irrational". To emphasise his point, the top diplomat stated that the basis for negotiations is in fact "all land-for-full peace," not "some land-for-full peace."
Moussa added that since the process currently "needs a push", Cairo will work to "overcome the serious obstacles facing all tracks" through continued contacts with peace players, as well as Washington.
