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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510 | ||
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510 | ||
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Seeking a way out
By Dina Ezzat
NEW IDEAS for ending the violence in the occupied territories and jump-starting peace talks were discussed at a meeting of the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan and Palestinian officials.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and his Jordanian counterpart, Abdel-Ilah El-Khatib, together with two senior Palestinian officials, met on Tuesday in the Jordanian port of Aqaba to coordinate positions on their countries' next moves concerning the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The Palestinian representatives were Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
The conferees called for the deployment of international observers in the Palestinian territories and for the international commission created to investigate the violence in the territories to begin its job immediately.
Following the talks, Moussa said the four men concluded that an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and ending the economic blockade would constitute a first phase that could lead to positive results.
Although the meeting was a Jordanian initiative, discussion centred on a series of Egyptian proposals that were developed this summer to facilitate the achievement of a final settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The ideas that are being worked out are based on three principles: a halt to all confrontations in the occupied territories, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian Authority territories and a resumption of direct negotiations within a specified time frame. Direct negotiations are to have as their objective a final settlement that includes the key issues of Jerusalem and refugees. Such a final settlement must also include a follow-up mechanism to ensure its implementation.
"We feel that it would have been unwise to allow the current political vacuum in the Middle East to grow. There is a need for ideas to be proposed for the two parties," commented an Egyptian diplomatic source. This source suggested that since President Hosni Mubarak recalled Egypt's ambassador from Tel Aviv, the Israeli government has been "acting more soberly."
"It seems that the Israeli government has become aware of the potential impact of its policies and is now moving towards changing them. Thus, it makes sense that the immediately concerned Arab countries meet to coordinate positions on a future negotiating process," he said.
Egypt's ambassador to Israel Mohamed Bassiouni believes that Israel may be adopting a less aggressive policy towards the Palestinians. Despite efforts on the Arab front, the most optimistic predictions coming from Egyptian diplomatic circles do not expect an end to Palestinian-Israeli confrontations before the beginning of next year, nor do they expect negotiations to be resumed prior to March 2001.
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