'The prelude of a prelude'
There are preludes to a re-launch of the Syrian track, but it will be a while before concrete steps are taken. Nevine Khalil reports on President Bashar Al-Assad's visit to Cairo
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Mubarak and Assad discuss necessary steps to activate the Syrian and Lebanese peace tracks
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All eyes remain focussed on the Palestinian- Israeli roadmap initiative, especially since progress on this track is seen as a good omen regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement on other peace tracks. While it seems hard to remember how long ago the Syrians and Israelis sat at the same table to negotiate a peace agreement, there has been some movement towards activating both this track and its Lebanese twin.
Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad was in Cairo on Monday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak about the possibility of Damascus re-launching talks with Tel Aviv via the good offices of Washington. Syria has come under pressure several times, and under several pretexts, to adopt a more cooperative position on fighting terrorism and making peace with Israel.
A top-level Egyptian delegation was in the US last month to discuss the prospects of peace in the region. The delegation included Mubarak's Chief Political Adviser Osama El- Baz, who told reporters after the Mubarak-Al- Assad meeting this week that the two leaders discussed "means of activating the Syrian and Lebanese tracks within the context of the diplomatic Quartet's work".
El-Baz read from a joint communiqué in which Mubarak and Al-Assad called on the diplomatic Quartet -- the US, the EU, Russia and the UN -- to "direct their efforts towards the Syrian and Lebanese tracks". He added that the Quartet's job entails "working on all the tracks until a comprehensive peace is achieved. Priority," continued El-Baz, "would be given to re-launching talks at the same point where they were suspended, based on [previous] principles of negotiations, and ending the Israeli occupation."
As Mubarak met with Al-Assad, Egypt's Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman was in the Palestinian territories to talk about the armed Palestinian factions' truce agreement. Last week, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah pledged that they would implement a cease- fire in order to create a more conducive atmosphere for Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to honour his side of the roadmap bargain.
On Monday morning, Mubarak praised the truce and hoped that it would be a success "because we want peace to take hold in the region". But in the same breath, he cautioned that he has "many doubts, and [that he] hopes that the Israeli government is responsive" to Palestinian overtures of goodwill. Speaking to reporters after attending the graduation ceremony at the Technical Institute of the Armed Forces, Mubarak suggested that releasing Palestinian prisoners, withdrawing from the PA-controlled territories and launching negotiations to resolve the Palestinian issue would all indicate Israel's goodwill.
Mubarak also emphasised that the mission being carried out by Egypt's envoy to the PA and the factions is to "discuss the issues -- not to impose a decision on the Palestinians". Apparently, Suleiman's mission is to "explain the ramifications of negative responses, and then [leave] the Palestinians to choose the road they will take," Mubarak said. He also said that Cairo sounds out Palestinian views concerning their "intentions, and how they will be able to carry out their reforms". If the Palestinian factions kept their word on the truce, said Mubarak, "we can help them." The president also made clear that he believes "the road the Palestinians are seeking is peace."
According to highly placed Egyptian sources, the Palestinian factions' decision was "the best thing that could have happened". The logic behind this, sources told Al-Ahram Weekly, is that now the onus is on Israel to show its true colours when it comes to making peace with its Arab neighbours. "If progress is made on the Palestinian track, it will be the first signal that the Syrian track is about to begin," he said. The possibility of a separate roadmap for the Syrian-Lebanese track is unlikely, added the source, "because all they need to do is start exactly where they stopped more than three years ago."
Talks would not be as diverse (or complex) as the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, the source said, since they are mostly focussed on Israel withdrawing from the Golan Heights and Shab'a Farms, and reaching a security arrangement for the Golan. "But we are nowhere near that point yet," he noted. "We are still at the prelude of the prelude to the re- launch of negotiations."
