Intensive contacts for peace

Egypt is pushing ahead on all tracks to restore calm in the region. Nevine Khalil reviews the latest diplomatic moves
Cairo has been in close contact with the Americans, Palestinians and Israelis to ease the 16-month siege of the Palestinian territories and the two-month confinement of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Ramallah in the West Bank. The Arabs also want Arafat to be allowed to travel to Lebanon next month to attend the Arab summit, an issue which is certain to aggravate tensions if Israel continues to prevent the Palestinian president from leaving his headquarters.
Yesterday, President Hosni Mubarak met with US special envoy to the Middle East William Burns to discuss conditions inside the Palestinian territories, means of ending the violence and bringing the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table.
A day earlier, Mubarak dispatched Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman for talks with Arafat on the latest efforts to reactivate peace talks. Recent meetings between key Palestinian figures and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, lower level meetings between Palestinians and Israelis, and a new French proposal to put the peace process back on track were all talking points with Arafat on Tuesday.
Arafat, who in the past had consulted with Mubarak in person on almost a weekly basis, sent PLO official Mahmoud Abbas to Cairo on Sunday to brief the Egyptians on the latest contacts between the Palestinians and each of the Americans and Israelis.
The French initiative, which Mubarak will discuss with France's Jacques Chirac tomorrow, proposes the holding of Palestinian elections to be followed closely by the declaration of a Palestinian state before talks are relaunched. The French believe that a Palestinian state should be the starting point, rather than the concluding issue, in negotiations.
Mubarak, on Monday however, cast doubt over the feasibility of the French proposal, saying that it is unlikely the Palestinians would accept it. "I don't know if the Palestinians will accept the election issue or not [since] Yasser Arafat is already an elected president," noted Mubarak. Israel has already rejected the proposal.
Mubarak said that the Palestinian areas would become "chaotic" if Arafat were removed as a result of infighting among Palestinian factions over leadership, adding that "there is no alternative to Arafat." He expressed hope that the Palestinian leadership would make an extra effort to halt the violence so as not to give Israel a pretext to evade its obligations. "I hope the Palestinian Authority will try as much as possible to stop the violence in order not to give Israel an excuse to avoid implementing agreements," said Mubarak. Israeli Defence Minister and leader of the Labour Party Binyamin Ben-Eliezer had met Mubarak last week in a bid to pressure Arafat to stop the violence.
While presenting his credentials on Monday as Israel's new ambassador to Cairo, Gideon Ben-Ami expressed Israel's appreciation of Egypt's role in supporting the peace process. Mubarak, according to sources in the Israeli Embassy, conveyed a message to Sharon emphasising that Palestinians and Israelis "should be able to live in peace and therefore the suffering must end." Egypt's contacts with various Israeli officials aimed at convincing Israel to halt its aggressive policies, treat the Palestinian Authority (PA) as an equal party and implement the Mitchell recommendations and Tenet plan. "Egypt is working on all fronts to help resolve the Palestinian issue," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Saturday. "We will contact any party if it will serve this purpose." He also said that Arafat, who has not left PA headquarters since 3 December, must be allowed to attend the Arab summit scheduled in Beirut next month.
Mubarak expressed hope that contacts between the Palestinians and Israelis would stop the bloodshed, and described relations with Sharon's government as "very complicated" and Arafat's confinement as "humiliating." "There is no hint that this Israeli government wants to restart talks or implement any recommendations or agreements. I don't think there is hope for a solution with the incumbent government."
US President George W Bush has called on Arafat to "do a better job" in curbing the violence, indicating that Washington could consider severing ties with the Palestinians over the issue. On the contrary, Cairo believes that Washington should shoulder its responsibilities as the main sponsor of the peace process. Mubarak said that the US, as well as Europe, Russia and the UN should "play a role in forcing the two sides to sit at the negotiating table."
"We cannot do without a US role, whether it agrees with some of the Palestinian policies or not," said Mubarak's chief political adviser Osama El-Baz. "Whatever [Washington's] reservations are on some Palestinian policies, this does not mean it should punish the Palestinian people or harm the peace process." He noted that "despite the many Arab reservations on Israeli policies, we do not say we should end negotiations." El-Baz added, however, that so far there has been no "mobilisation" towards peace on the part of the Israelis.
The PLO's Mahmoud Abbas, who had met with Sharon last week, agreed. "We cannot say that there is hope, but we must knock on all doors," Abbas said after talks with Maher on Sunday.
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