Cairo is set to capitalise on the momentum created by the election of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president Cairo promptly expressed its support for the newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, writes Dina Ezzat. Statements of congratulations and support were made as the victory of Abbas in the 9 January presidential elections was confirmed. In an exchange of telephone calls between top Egyptian and Palestinian officials, Cairo made a clear commitment to activate a comprehensive plan that aims to provide Abbas with political and security support. "We are ready to move ahead. The election of a realistic Palestinian president who enjoys the support of his people and the confidence of the international community is an excellent opportunity for us to try and make some progress on the Palestinian-Israeli front," a senior Egyptian official said. According to the official and Palestinian and European sources, Cairo is now considering a set of practical moves -- that have unquestioned international backing -- to support Abbas. The first step is to send a clear message to Israel -- and ask the Europeans to back it -- demanding an end, or at least suspension, of all Israeli acts of provocation. Cairo is hoping that the Israeli government will refrain from conducting any military operations in the Palestinian territories or target leaders of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas which accounts for a major share of political opposition to Abbas. Parallel to this effort, Cairo is also working with the Europeans on upgrading the security capabilities of the Palestinian Authority. "It is very important to empower the Palestinian security apparatus to strip [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon of any pretext that he might use to procrastinate over the long overdue resumption of Palestinian- Israeli talks," the source said. To do this, Egypt is planning to train more Palestinian security police and send experts to the Palestinian territories "at a later stage". During their meetings with Egyptian officials on Monday, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini and European Union High Commissioner for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana appealed to Egypt to move faster with its plan to improve security in Gaza. "This will be of great help to the Palestinians. We believe that an active Egyptian role in Gaza is essential now," one EU source said. Cairo, informed sources say, is willing to take the path of assisting Gaza provided there is an accord on "technical details with Israel" in relation to the planned deployment of a larger number of Palestinian police on the borders with Gaza and the quality of weapons that these forces will be allowed to have. This will be in light of Egyptian-Israeli peace commitments that allow for minimum requirement of weapons for Egyptian police in that area. The details have been subject to Egyptian- Israeli talks during the past few weeks. Decisions are expected to be made within the coming two weeks when a high-level Israeli diplomat is due to visit Egypt, a presidential source said. Egypt is also working on helping the Palestinians improve their economic situation. "It is no secret that our Palestinian people in the territories are suffering as a result of overwhelming poverty," a Cairo-based Palestinian diplomat told Al-Ahram Weekly. Cairo is engaged in contacts on this front. During talks with European officials in town this week, top Egyptian officials made it a point to appeal to their interlocutors to activate economic aid to the Palestinians. "We cannot expect Abbas to rally the support of his people for political compromises when they live in poverty," the Egyptian official said. Cairo is also communicating the same message to the oil-rich Gulf states. Egypt is trying particularly to encourage some Gulf capitals, especially Kuwait and Manama, to allow for a decent flow of Palestinian labour. "In the wake of the support [Palestinian President Yasser] Arafat gave to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait [in 1990] many Arab Gulf countries have been apprehensive about recruiting Palestinian labour. We are trying to help the Palestinian Authority solve this problem," the Egyptian source said. In equal measure, Egypt is trying to help the Palestinian Authority send more workers to Israel. "We are talking to the Israelis to increase the number of Palestinian workers allowed into Israel," an Egyptian source said. But Cairo's immediate concern is how to arrange direct talks between Abbas and Sharon on the one hand and Abbas and senior Palestinian "opposition" leaders, especially those of Hamas, on the other. "Without the consent of Hamas, and other key groups such as Islamic Jihad, it will not at all be easy for Abbas to move forward," the Egyptian source said. He added that while Cairo is active in communicating with Hamas and other groups, it is still trying to "work out a political formula that can grant Hamas an adequate say in Palestinian affairs and secure its consent for a non-militant phase of engagement with Israel." In town this week, top European diplomats were told by Egypt at the highest level that they should encourage Sharon to arrange for a meeting with Abbas "in the near future to start serious talks". European sources say that they are doing exactly this. "We will do everything we can to encourage these talks," Marc Otte, EU envoy on the Middle East, said. According to Otte, "If [US] President [George] Bush invited Abbas for talks, it is hard to believe Abbas will not be meeting Sharon." Egyptian, European and Palestinian sources predict Abbas and Sharon will meet for the first time once Abbas is officially sworn in. They also predict a subsequent meeting in Egypt's resort Sharm El-Sheikh. Egyptian officials, however, insist that it is not just the meetings they are pursuing but the kind of dialogue that could lead to changes on the ground. Agreements related to the implementation of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Egyptian and European officials acknowledge, will be a good start. "If I hear that Sharon will meet Abbas to discuss with him the withdrawal, then this will be very good news for me," Otte said. According to Otte, who has been on the job for close to a year, the situation on the Palestinian-Israeli front is still very difficult and despite all international and regional efforts, no breakthroughs are expected anytime soon. "My job is not easier today than it was [some three months ago]. The tough issues are still there," Otte said.
