A flurry of consultations

Egypt takes centre stage in efforts to bring the Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiating table, writes Nevine Khalil
Amid rumours that Egypt may host a top-level Palestinian-Israeli meeting, and unconfirmed reports of secret talks between chief Egyptian and Israeli officials, Cairo went into top diplomatic gear this week to try and restore calm to a conflict-torn region. President Hosni Mubarak, who has been working the phones in recent weeks speaking to world and regional leaders, began a series of trips scheduled for the region and Europe by visiting Syria on Monday. He has also recently received the king of Jordan, the Palestinian president, and various peace envoys including EU chief for foreign and security issues Javier Solana.
Later this month, Mubarak is expected to travel to a number of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as several European capitals including Paris, Berlin and London to confer on the deteriorating situation in the region.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Mubarak briefed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on his contacts and talks with different parties, especially Arab leaders.
Also on Tuesday, Mubarak told Italian Parliament Speaker Pierferdinando Casini that he was "very worried" about the escalation of violence in the region, and spoke of "the difficulties blocking peace" as a result of Israel's intransigence. "Politics are about compromise, not confrontation," counselled Casini, whose visit came on the heels of Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero's visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel last week. Soon after Ruggiero's trip, Rome decided to dispatch an official "to join the other forms of European presence in the territories," according to a statement by the Italian embassy in Cairo. During separate meetings with Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Ruggiero encouraged both sides to meet soon to end the violence. The Italian diplomat was later quoted as saying that such a meeting could take place in Egypt. "The [Arafat-Peres] meeting must be very carefully prepared. It should be held as soon as possible... most likely in Egypt," said Ruggiero in Durban, South Africa, after a 90-minute telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Although a meeting between Arafat and Peres was earlier thought to be possible at the Italian city of Cernobbio, and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer probed the possibility last week of a reconciliatory meeting in Germany, the two parties have expressed a preference for a meeting nearer to the place of conflict. Any meeting between Arafat and Peres is now preceded by the current close consultations between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan to map out how a truce between the Palestinians and Israelis can be achieved.
Reports also emerged at the beginning of the week that Mubarak's chief political adviser, Osama El-Baz, met secretly with Peres in Cyprus to deliberate about the anticipated Peres- Arafat meeting, and ensure that Peres has the necessary mandate to reach a truce with the Palestinians. Although the El-Baz-Peres meeting was not confirmed by either side, a few days later an unnamed top Egyptian official cryptically denied that El-Baz had met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Israel.
As for confirmed, official meetings, Mubarak travelled to Latakia on Monday after a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Friday, to recap the developing situation in the region. Another telephone call to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah on Friday broached the same topic and resulted in the dispatch of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal to Alexandria on Tuesday for further talks with Mubarak.
With Assad on Monday, Mubarak spoke about ways of defusing the 11- month-old confrontations and ending the "carnage perpetrated by the Israelis against the Palestinians." According to a Syrian presidential spokesman, the two leaders also expressed a "keen interest in reactivating Arab solidarity and collective Arab action at this delicate stage," stressing the importance of consultation and coordination among Arab states.
For further discussions on the violence and Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people, Mubarak met Jordan's King Abdullah on Saturday in Alexandria. Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace agreements with Israel, but their joint initiative earlier this year to end the violence failed to stem the bloodshed. In an indication that relations with Tel Aviv are strained, Cairo withdrew its ambassador to Israel last November. The newly appointed Jordanian ambassador to Israel has yet to travel to Tel Aviv to begin his term.
Abdullah arrived in Egypt after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and telephone conversations with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and French President Jacques Chirac. He is also expected to meet US President George W Bush on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session at the end of this month.
After the brief visit to Alexandria by the Jordanian monarch, Jordan's Royal Palace issued a statement warning against the dangerous impact of deteriorating conditions as a result of continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. The two leaders urged the international community to take immediate action and concrete steps to restore calm and end the abuse of Palestinian rights, the statement said. Mubarak and Abdullah also condemned Israel's policies of assassination and destruction, and called for the immediate implementation of the Tenet plan and the recommendations of the Mitchell report as one package. "Peace can only be reached by giving the Palestinians their rights on the basis of signed agreements and understandings," noted the statement. The two sides agreed to continue consultations to end the aggression against the Palestinians and bring the peace process back on track.
According to Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, the president and the monarch discussed various ways of intensifying Arab and world efforts to support and protect the Palestinian people, as well as bringing the Palestinians and the Israelis back to the negotiating table.
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