Sounding out the alternatives

As diplomats vie for influence ahead of the upcoming Arab Summit in Beirut, key players are looking for new ideas in the stalled peace process, report Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty
Peace envoys flocked to the region this week as the violence between the Palestinians and Israelis continued to mount. Ideas coming from the Americans, the Europeans and the Russians are a jumble as the Arab summit scheduled to take place in Beirut at the end of March nears. US Vice- President Dick Cheney will launch his regional tour within weeks and President Hosni Mubarak will be in Washington early next month. No one doubts that the situation is "dangerous," and everyone agrees that calm needs to be restored so that negotiations can resume. The issue is how.
The Tenet plan and recommendations of the so-called Mitchell report have been promoted as the cornerstones for breakthrough, but so far they have remained ink on paper. As the situation continues to deteriorate, peacemakers are looking elsewhere for solutions. Although the Tenet and Mitchell initiatives remain the main proposals, other ideas are emerging. A French proposal suggests holding Palestinian elections and the declaration of a state as a practicable starting point for re-launching negotiations. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Korei have suggested a cease-fire, followed by the establishment of a Palestinian state in the areas currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority, after which negotiations could determine the Palestinian state's permanent borders.
Although both alternatives have been met with disapproval from various quarters, the Palestinian and Israeli public seem interested in listening to more. Some leaders and officials, including those in Cairo, are also interested. The desire to explore other options reflects despair over Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's intransigence and determination to steer the volatile situation in the occupied territories as far away as possible from the road to peace.
Mubarak's chief political adviser, Osama El-Baz, expressed concern that even if the US exerted pressure on Sharon to begin implementing the Mitchell plan, the Israeli premier would try to subvert it at every possible opportunity. This was the reason why other options are being considered, noted El-Baz, because they might lead to a quicker and more effective path back to the peace process.
Cairo believes that its continued diplomatic efforts to revive the peace process have borne fruit. "Egypt is seeking to mobilise international public opinion in favour of Palestinian rights," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher. "Many achievements have been made in this regard, especially with Europe," he told members of the business community at a lecture on Sunday.
Egypt's main concern is to restore calm and re-launch negotiations by lifting the siege on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a reduction in violence and a series of confidence-building measures. Egypt wants the US to pressure Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinians and put a stop to Tel Aviv's attempts to sideline Arafat. Maher noted that Washington's position on the peace process "fluctuates between total partiality for Israel to relative partiality; and Egypt is seeking to push the US to adopt a position that is closer to the middle ground." This was apparent during talks between Egyptian and American officials throughout the week.
During telephone conversations with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Maher emphasised the importance of putting an end to Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people and their leadership. Maher said that Israel's policies "will take them and the region to a dead end. What is happening in the Palestinian territories every day is proof that Israeli policies have failed."
The Palestinians are hanging their hopes on Mubarak's upcoming visit to the US to iron out the complicated situation and conditions in the Palestinian territories. But before heading to Washington, Mubarak met a host of peace envoys to discuss ending Israeli aggressions and the siege of the Palestinian territories and leadership.
During a 75-minute meeting on Saturday, Mubarak discussed with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet the obstacles preventing the implementation of the Tenet security plan reached on 13 June. The plan outlined steps towards a cease-fire and suggested security measures to facilitate a return to calm. The Tenet plan was offered as a mechanism to implement the Mitchell recommendations and pave the way to negotiations after 16 months of the Intifada, but Tenet has not been in the region since his plan failed to restore calm eight months ago. In his talks with Mubarak, Tenet also discussed the situation in Iraq and US intentions there -- an issue which Richard Haass, director of policy planning at the US State Department, elaborated on with other Egyptian officials on Monday.
Haass, in Cairo to prepare for Mubarak's Washington visit, met Maher and El-Baz and later told reporters that although "no decision has been made about specific actions toward Iraq ... we have real concerns, and we are looking at all our options."
Tenet arrived in Egypt on the heels of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's peace mission to look for the "key" to bring parties back to the negotiating table. "There is a closed door," said Fischer on Thursday after talks with Mubarak and Maher. "We must open this door, and to open this door we need a key."
Fischer and British Foreign Minister Jack Straw were touring the region to assess the situation in an attempt to step up Europe's peace-making role. Fischer played down differences between the Europeans and Americans, saying that Washington is still leading peace efforts, but he also said that he believed the region needed "new" ideas to propel the peace process forward.
On Sunday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson visited Egypt to listen to Cairo's perspective on unfolding events. After talks with Mubarak and Maher, Peterson said that "an important reason for the present situation is Israel's lack of willingness to enter into a real political dialogue," Peterson said. He called on the Americans "to lean more heavily on the parties," to come back to negotiations. At the same time, Peterson added, peace brokers would continue exploring new ideas.
Maher said that the European role in the peace process was evolving, but it needed to be "effective and influential" with both the Israelis and Americans. He was also unperturbed by the conflicting views between the Europeans and Americans, saying that "the situation requires dialogue, an exchange of ideas and opinions between these countries."
Russia's envoy Andrei Vdovin was also in Cairo this week to discuss the "explosive" situation in the region and bring his own "fresh" ideas, which were not discussed with the media. After meeting Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Maher this week, Vdovin pledged his country's commitment to peacemaking efforts. Vdovin, like other envoys shuttling around the region, wants to see the Palestinians and Israelis sitting at the negotiating table as soon as possible.
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