29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001
Issue No.562
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001 Issue No.562 |
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Words into action
Cairo hopes the arrival of new US envoys in the region will mark a qualitative leap in the Middle East peace process. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty report
US Secretary of State Colin Powell's 20 November speech was well received by Egyptian officials, focusing as they did on its more positive components which were viewed as indications of a new and reinvigorated US role in the region. President Hosni Mubarak described the speech as "positive because it indicated a revival of American interest in the peace process and this is important." At the same time, Mubarak urged "implementation, coordination and joint work to put words into action."
The US took the first step in implementing the new role outlined in Powell's speech by dispatching two envoys, Gen Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Gulf, and assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs William Burns to the region on Monday to seek an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence. It is hoped that this, once achieved, would place the two parties on the road to implementing the recommendations of the Mitchell report.
However, the two envoys faced a daunting task as they kicked off talks on Monday in Israel. Burns was expected to handle the political issues while Zinni would deal with security. Both are working towards achieving a watertight cease-fire. They were calling on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to try to persuade him to back down from his demand for a seven-day period of "total calm" prior to the resumption of peace talks. They were also trying to persuade him to lift blockades on Palestinian areas, withdraw troops from Palestinian- controlled areas and order his forces to act with greater restraint.
As for Yasser Arafat, they were urging him to act more decisively against Palestinian militants by disarming and arresting them. Zinni and Burns are expected in Cairo today for a regional perspective on future moves. Zinni will remain in the region until a cease-fire is arranged but Burns is expected to return to the US soon.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher flew to Washington on Tuesday to convey Cairo's viewpoint and to discuss how the US can honour the pledges contained in Powell's speech. Maher is scheduled to meet Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as well as several Congressmen and members of Arab American organisations. Other topics on Maher's agenda include the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and bilateral relations.
For his part, Mubarak continued high-level contacts in the region, travelling to Saudi Arabia and Libya for talks with leaders there, dispatching his chief political adviser Osama El- Baz to Syria and receiving Arafat in Cairo.
Mubarak and Arafat discussed the issues on the table with the American envoys. The Palestinian president reaffirmed his willingness to cooperate with US efforts to improve the deteriorating situation.
Before travelling to Washington, Maher outlined what he perceived to be indications of a new US policy in the Middle East. For the first time, according to Maher, the US administration was using the word "occupation" to refer to the Israeli presence on Palestinian land, a term Washington had always avoided in the past. "The United States never used this expression before. But now the secretary of state is saying that there has to be an end to the occupation which is a declaration on his part that occupation is the main problem," Maher said.
Maher also applauded Powell's allusion to the necessity of preserving the dignity of the Palestinians. Also praiseworthy, according to Maher, was Powell's declaration that the basis of a peaceful settlement is the land-for-peace formula, Madrid principles and UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.
Maher read in Powell's speech a willingness on the part of the US to involve other parties, such as the European Union and the UN, in the resolution of the conflict. "In the past, the United States refused to allow any other party to play a competing role. Today, it is convinced of the compatibility of these roles and the necessity of their coordination," he told reporters on Monday.
Maher interpreted the speech as cancelling the Israeli veto on the resumption of negotiations only when a seven-day period of calm was achieved. He added that the speech also contained a "mechanism" for implementing the ideas put forward in it, an allusion to the appointment of Zinni as senior adviser to the region.
The US had initially supported the idea of a seven-day period of no hostilities, however, Maher pointed out, "Powell's speech did not refer to it." Maher argued that Sharon's policies aimed "not only at challenging the US but provoking some of the Palestinian organisations so that they [Israel] can retaliate," and the cycle of violence continues.
In Damascus on Sunday, El-Baz also criticised Sharon's seven-day precondition, saying that Israel is resorting to "fabrications and lies to blame the Palestinians for any breach of the cease-fire." He called for international monitors to determine who the violators are. "We are not talking about international forces but about neutral personnel to monitor the situation on the ground," said El-Baz.
He squarely placed the blame for the stalemate in peacemaking on Sharon's doorstep, questioning the Israeli prime minister's declared intention to make peace with the Arabs. "The basic problem lies in the fact that Sharon does not want negotiations to begin because he knows that once they do, the wheel of negotiations will be [unstoppable]," El-Baz said, suggesting that "it would be better if Sharon was not in power." But he continued that if there is "good will, there will be a way for an agreement to be reached in the next six to nine months."
El-Baz was optimistic about the arrival of the US envoys in the region, viewing it as "an important step along the road to peace."
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