CAIRO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Cairo this week to meet with President Hosni Mubarak and other Egyptian officials. Clinton traveled to Cairo to discuss the situation in Palestine and how the US and Egypt can begin to put negotiations back on track between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Clinton's visit to Cairo came as the last leg of a nine day trip to Pakistan and the Middle East. After attending a development Forum in Morocco on Tuesday, Clinton canceled a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to travel to Egypt the following day. In addition to the President, Clinton also met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit and the director of intelligence General Suleiman, who is heavily involved in reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas. In their meetings, Clinton reaffirmed the Obama administration's commitment to moving the peace process forward. At a joint press conference with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on Wednesday, Secretary Clinton explained that she is “deeply and personally committed to achieving a two-state solution and comprehensive peace between Israelis, Palestinians, and all of their Arab neighbors.” Clinton also reaffirmed the US administration's policy does not accept, now or in the future, the legitimacy of any Israeli settlement activity. She again hailed the Israeli commitment to halt all new settlements and to end the expropriation of land as “unprecedented,” despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowing existing settlements to expand. Despite what the Secretary sees as positive steps, the resumption of the Middle East peace process may be a long way off. Clinton's unscheduled visit to Cairo demonstrates how much the administration needs a key ally, namely Egypt, in the Arab world in order to restart talks between the Israeli and Palestinian camps. At issue is whether a complete settlement freeze should be a precondition for talks or whether it should be just another issue in the wider peace process. While the Obama administration is committed to ending Israeli settlement, it hopes the peace process can move forward without this precondition. Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit voiced his support for the US administration's goal for the two state solution. “We support fully this U.S. position,” he said, “because it reflects a conviction … of a Palestinian state that is capable, that will be on all of the territories that were occupied in 1967.” The Egyptian praised the US commitments, some Arab leaders in the region were more skeptical. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, believes that without a guaranteed precondition of freezing all settlements by Israel, the peace process will be brought back to the starting point. In an interview with the BBC, he said, “I'm really afraid that we are about to see a failure. But still wait until we have our meetings and decide what we're going to do. But failure is in the atmosphere all over.” The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, was even more pessimistic. On Wednesday, he remarked that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may need to “tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option.” He believes that Israeli idea of a Palestinian state, one with limited sovereignty, especially in matter of security, is not feasible. It may be time for Palestinians to, “refocus their attention on the one-state solution where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live as equals,” he said. In spite of these reservations, Clinton will return to Washington with the full support of Egypt's leadership in pursuing restarting negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. BM
