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U.S.
pressing Israel for Arafat submission to Arab summit JERUSALEM — Palestinian and Israeli leaders separately pondered a U.S. truce proposal Monday, while the United States pressed a reluctant Israel to let Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat attend this week’s Arab summit in Beirut regardless of whether a cease-fire is reached. Both sides scheduled consultations for the late evening hours, with U.S. officials pressing for quick answers about their ideas to bridge gaps over implementing a truce plan negotiated last June by CIA Director George Tenet. Because of the consultations, it appeared that a planned three-way meeting would have to put off until Tuesday, a diplomatic source said. Time was running out for an Israeli decision about whether Arafat would travel to the Beirut summit, which begins Wednesday. Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the decision would be made Tuesday. Sharon has insisted that a cease-fire be in place before Arafat leaves the Palestinian areas. Israel controls entry and exit. For three months, Israeli tanks confined Arafat to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah; Israel eased the restrictions two weeks ago, allowing him to travel freely in the Palestinian areas, but he has still not left the Ramallah area. The Palestinian issue is to be a focus of the two-day Arab League summit, where Saudi Arabia is to present a proposal for Mideast peace. According to a text sent to the Palestinians, the proposal calls for an end to the Israel-Arab conflict in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 war — the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, Golan Heights and a tiny parcel of disputed land on the Lebanon border. Earlier drafts referred to “peaceful relations” or “normalization,” according to media reports. The draft received by the Palestinians is the first written version of the proposal to reach the public. Israeli experts said the written proposal takes a step backward, substituting the term “end of the Israel-Arab conflict” for the binding legal concepts of peace and normalization. Israel’s government rejects a key part of the plan — a total withdrawal from the territories captured in 1967. Sharon has said returning to the old lines would endanger Israel’s security. There is also a hot dispute over the issue of Palestinian refugees that is not resolved by the Saudi proposal. Sharon presented his own peace plan with the Palestinians on Monday. He told members of his Likud party that he favors a three-stage process, starting with a cease-fire, then an open-ended partial agreement and finally talks on a peace accord. Saudi officials said they would leave it up to the Palestinians to decide whether their initiative would be discussed at the summit if Arafat is not allowed to attend. In Beirut, Palestinian Economics and Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said the Saudi proposal was a “good step to achieve peace in the region,” but that the chances of Arafat attending the summit were slim. However, another Palestinian official in Beirut, speaking on condition of anonymity, said chances were positive. |
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