Dina Ezzat looks at high-level Egyptian efforts to help the Palestinians avoid Israel's brutal wrath President Hosni Mubarak is expected to fly to Tunis early Saturday morning to take part in the Arab summit. Scheduled to open Saturday morning in the Tunisian capital, the summit will be a two-day affair focussing on four issues: the situations in both Palestine and Iraq, and the reform efforts being proposed for both the Arab League and the Arab world as a whole. An Egyptian source said it was "very obvious that movement is desperately required on the Palestinian front. Egypt has some ideas, and they are being discussed with other Arab countries." The source described the Egyptian ideas as being simple and straightforward, involving a cease-fire (including an end or suspension of targeted killings and house demolitions), a few weeks of stability (to allow for an intensive inter-Palestinian dialogue), and direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis regarding municipal administration and security. Although this plan, Egyptian officials said, has been on the table for a while, the time has come to give it a new push. "The Israeli prime minister has not withdrawn from Gaza, and it is very unclear now whether or not he will actually withdraw," one source said. "Meanwhile, the Israelis are inflicting serious acts of aggression on the Palestinians, and the situation has to be dealt with somehow." On Monday, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said Egypt would do everything in its power to "spare Palestinian lives". According to Maher, "what we are seeing in Gaza is absolutely unacceptable. Even Israel's friends -- including the US -- have been critical of the way Israel is handling the situation." Some of Egypt's ideas were discussed on Sunday in Cairo during a meeting between Mubarak and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. The two leaders also discussed a draft Palestinian paper outlining Palestinian demands that final status talks should not be preempted, a cease-fire should be enacted on both sides, and a meaningful political process should begin on the basis of the roadmap and with the Quartet's direct intervention. There are several similarities between the Palestinian and Egyptian ideas, including a stress on Palestinians' determination to demand their legitimate rights as stipulated in relevant UN resolutions, including the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the right to have an independent viable state within the 1967 borders. According to a Cairo-based Palestinian diplomat, "the situation in [the Palestinian territories] is obviously going from bad to worse. We know that the international community is not going to do much for us. And we know that we have to be pragmatic and think about handling the situation by ourselves." Following his talks with Mubarak, Qurei said the Palestinians were certainly interested in the Egyptian ideas; any movement, however, would have to be reciprocal, he said. "We have always expressed an interest in reaching a cease-fire, but we have also said that the cease-fire has to be honoured by both sides," Qurei said. According to a Palestinian source, Qurei is planning another visit to Egypt soon for further consultations with President Mubarak and Egyptian officials. Palestinian sources described talks between Qurei and US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as neither encouraging nor disappointing. "We felt that the Americans were willing to engage the Palestinians at this stage," one said. The Palestinians are hoping a more positive US attitude in the event that they obtain sufficient Arab backing at the upcoming summit, he said. Egyptian sources said that Cairo was working closely with the Palestinians, as well as other concerned capitals and the Arab League, to ensure that the summit's resolutions contain language that will be "expressive" of Arab rights vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue. At the same time, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said that Cairo is conducting high- level talks with Israel over the disturbing developments in Rafah. According to one Egyptian source, Egypt believes that the aggressive Israeli military operations on the Palestinian borders with Egypt are tantamount to a violation of the Egyptian -Israeli peace treaty. Also, the Arab League held a meeting on Tuesday at the level of permanent representatives to discuss the situation in Rafah. Mubarak, meanwhile, will be travelling to Romania late next week in the first leg of a tour that will also include Russia. The situation in Palestine and Iraq will figure prominently on the agenda of Mubarak's talks in both Bucharest and Moscow.
