A suicide bombing in Beersheba overshadows Cairo's efforts to unify Palestinian ranks, and resume the peace process. Rasha Saad and Nevine Khalil report Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's 45- minute meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria on Tuesday coincided with news of a Palestinian suicide attack that blew up two buses in Beersheba, in south Israel, killing at least 16 passengers and wounding more than 80. While Mubarak and Qurei discussed impending reform of internal Palestinian affairs, and an ongoing dialogue among Palestinian factions, the attack in Israel resulted in the immediate postponement of a Wednesday sojourn by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit and Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian leadership. Ironically, those talks would have focussed on the need to maximise Palestinian control over the security situation, among other things. Egypt has said it is ready to train Palestinian security cadres because, as Mubarak has told the Palestinians, "your strength lies in your unity and taking control of your affairs." Training of security cadres would begin in Cairo, "and if we are encouraged [by progress], we would be willing to send trainers over there [to Gaza]", said Presidential Spokesperson Maged Abdel- Fattah. The encouraging signs would include a division of responsibilities among the Palestinian leadership, more control of the security situation on the ground, and agreement among the Palestinian factions on a unified political agenda, Abdel-Fattah said. Cairo, meanwhile, has already expressed its satisfaction with the progress that has been made to merge Palestinian police forces under the leadership of Saeb Al-Agez, and unite all national security forces under the leadership of Moussa Arafat. Much is expected of Israel as well. Qurei said that the Palestinians are seeking "a serious Israeli partner" who would comply with the tenets of the roadmap, including simultaneous withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, actual withdrawal (rather than redeployment) of Israeli troops, and the removal of Israeli control from any areas which are handed over to the Palestinians. He stressed that "we will not accept under any circumstance that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza comes at the expense of the West Bank." The Palestinian premier added that he was willing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon if there were signs that such a meeting would be successful. Commenting on the issue of the Palestinian detainees who went on hunger strike to protest against Israeli prison conditions, Qurei was very critical of the lack of a positive global response. "Unfortunately, we haven't heard one word of sympathy from the world community on this issue calling on Israel to change its policies." He suggested that the UN should send a delegation to investigate the matter. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer -- in town for talks with top Egyptian officials -- would only note that, "if there are humanitarian concerns, I think it should be dealt with." Arriving in Alexandria from Israel at the end of a whirlwind tour, which also took him to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, Fischer said that he discussed the issue of the protesting prisoners, but was short on revealing what the Israeli side had to say. During his talks with Mubarak and Abul- Gheit, Fischer discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in Iraq, reform in the Arab world, and the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, as well as bilateral relations. At a joint press conference later in the day, both Abul-Gheit and Fischer condemned the operation in Beersheba. Fischer called it a "terrorist attack" and offered his condolences to the families of the victims. Abul-Gheit rejected the killing of innocent civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis, and said such actions should come to a halt. "We should focus now on the political solution: the Gaza pullout and means to prepare the political arena for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks and ways to implement the roadmap. However, Abul-Gheit said, "it seems that extremists from both sides are hindering such a move." Fischer described his country as an honest broker in the Middle East peace conflict, which sees a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue in "two states, side by side. This is the European stance. I see no other alternative." Fischer insisted that "we [Germans] are not one-sided. We are close friends to the Israelis and also to the Palestinians. Killing of innocent people on both sides could not be accepted and must be stopped; therefore, we condemn terror against civilians." Fischer expressed Germany's appreciation and support for Egypt's efforts to resolve the crisis. "Egypt is playing a crucial role in the disengagement plan and we are fully supportive of its efforts," Fischer said. The German official noted that peacemaking is a complicated issue that requires all concerned parties to work together. "The EU is ready to commit itself for such an engagement to make [Israel's plan to withdraw from Gaza] a success," he said, while emphasising that it is "crucial that [the withdrawal] is not Gaza first and Gaza only." Fischer said it should be the beginning of the roadmap process, and might provide a "de-blocking" of peacemaking in the region. Former Assistant Foreign Minister for European Relations Gamal Bayoumi was hopeful about an effective European role in this respect, however. According to Bayoumi, the US has succeeded in marginalising the EU's role in the Middle East at a time when EU members themselves are divided regarding their political agenda. "The EU, which has successfully adopted a unified economic policy, failed to do the same regarding its political agenda," he told Al- Ahram Weekly. An architect of the 1999 EU-Egyptian partnership agreement, Bayoumi described Germany as one of Egypt and the Arab world's major trade partners. In fact, Germany has managed to position itself as Egypt's second largest single trade partner, following only the US. Egypt is also Germany's third most important trade partner in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. When it comes to politics, however, Bayoumi said, "the economic giant turns into a political rabbit." Fischer's French counterpart Michel Barnier was also in Cairo this week; the two men met on Tuesday. Barnier had come to town on Monday as part of an emergency mission in the Middle East that also took him to Jordan to campaign for the release of the two French reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were taken hostage by a group calling itself the Islamic army in Iraq. The group threatened to kill the two men unless France revokes a law banning Islamic headscarves in public schools. After meeting with Barnier, Abul-Gheit said that Egypt, in accordance with Islamic teachings, "rejects this practice of taking hostages and then bargaining for their release." He vowed that Egypt "would [intervene] to free the two hostages." Barnier, who also met Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, described France as a country that respects all religions and human rights, and noted that Muslim leaders in France had called for the journalists' release. "I call for their release... especially because the respect for human life is sacred... The French reporters were doing their job in reporting to the world the conditions in the Middle East and explaining the sufferings of the Iraqi people," Barnier told reporters at the French Embassy in Cairo.
