21 - 27 March 2002
Issue No.578
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 March 2002 Issue No.578 |
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Pre-summit soul-searching
Cairo has been abuzz with discussions between Arab officials, visiting to coordinate next Wednesday's summit agenda. Nevine Khalil reports
President Hosni Mubarak consulted with a number of top Arab leaders and officials this week, in preparation for the Arab summit in Beirut on 27-28 March.
Mubarak with Saudi Arabia's Al-Faisal (up) and Jordan's Abul-Ragheb during talks in preparation for the Arab summit (photos: Mohamed Abdel-Fattah)
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad met with Mubarak yesterday to discuss the summit's agenda, which is widely expected to focus on an Arab plan of action in the face of continued escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel. The prospects for a unified Arab policy plan on Iraq will also be on the agenda, especially in light of mounting US threats against Saddam Hussein's regime and allegations that he is continuing to oversee an ongoing nuclear and chemical warfare programme.
But the summit's top topic of discussion will be Saudi Arabia's proposals for relaunching the peace process and reaching a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's proposal revolves around the concept that a full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab lands invaded during the 1967 War would be rewarded by comprehensive Arab peace with Israel. The document under discussion also refers to the Palestinian right to establish a state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also addresses the possibility of a fair settlement to the issue of Palestinian refugees and their "right to return."
Mubarak has also held talks, in the run-up to the summit, with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abul- Ragheb and Foreign Minister Marwan Al-Moashar amidst speculation that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are drafting a position paper to be presented at the Beirut summit.
"The goal is to formulate the Saudi ideas in a clear and simple document which will constitute a message of peace to the international community and Israel, without abandoning any Arab rights," an Arab source told AFP in Amman. The final product will be "a single-page document drawn up in general terms," the source added.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said that Cairo and Amman -- the only Arab capitals that have signed peace agreements with Israel -- are "exerting continuous efforts in support of the Palestinians and their rights." Maher added that all the Arabs are rallying to support, aside from the Saudi peace plan, the rest of the peace initiatives currently doing the rounds of Arab capitals.
Whether Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will allow Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to attend the summit is still unclear, but either way, according to Maher, "Saudi Arabia will submit its initiative, and the Arab countries are ready to adopt it and work on this basis," he said.
The siege on Arafat was partially lifted recently after over three months of total confinement to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.
But Cairo, and other Arab capitals, remain suspicious of Sharon's intentions and do not believe he genuinely wants to conclude peace with the Arabs.
"There is no point [in dealing] with [Sharon]," Mubarak told Israeli television earlier in the week. "His actions have brought us to a very difficult point." He continued that Israelis "do not want to talk in straightforward language."
He argued that neither Palestinian nor Israeli citizens currently feel secure. "The Palestinians are frustrated; and the Israelis do not feel safe," he added.
Mubarak's vision for exiting from the quagmire involves both Palestinians and Israelis meeting, "being flexible and speaking honestly in the presence of the Americans or any other party to see what can be done." Mubarak warned that, if matters are left up to each party, "acting on their own, without listening to advice, this will lead to disaster." Otherwise, he believes that in the long term "Israelis will be surrounded by 400 million [Arabs] who hate them."
Mubarak also rejected Israeli tendencies to imagine they can expel the Palestinians to neighbouring Arab countries, or that they can replace Arafat with another leader "tailored" to suit their demands.
As an indicator of how tense relations are between Cairo and Tel Aviv, Mubarak said that Sharon has retracted his promises to him on every occasion they have communicated. Also, he accused Israel of always trying to damage Egypt's image by claiming, for instance, that Egypt knew about an arms shipment which Israel confiscated on its way to the Palestinians in January. "[Egypt] works to calm tensions, but [Israel's] leadership does not respond to us," he said. "You try to con us, and take everything at once." The president reiterated that he will not visit Israel, especially in light of the ongoing violence and Israeli aggressions. "When I want to talk to the Israeli people, I address them on TV. I don't need to go there," he insisted.
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