|
Palestinians In Egypt For Secret Security Talks With Israel, CIA
by Lamia Radi
CAIRO (AFP) - Palestinian security heads were in Egypt on Sunday for talks with their Israeli counterparts and CIA director George Tenet to try to reduce three months of violence and pave the way for a new peace push.
A Palestinian official said the meeting would begin at a secret location in the evening, as part of U.S. President Bill Clinton's last drive for peace before he leaves office on January 20th.
The Palestinian Islamic resistance group Hamas, meanwhile, warned Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority against resuming military cooperation with Israel under the auspices of the CIA, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition he not be named, said "the agenda of the meeting remains vague until now" when asked to comment on conflicting goals for the encounter.
The Israelis demand an end to the Intifada, or uprising, that erupted after a controversial Israeli visit to a holy site in east Jerusalem on September 28th. The Palestinians demand Israel stop military action on their people.
Israeli security expert Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who is also transportation and tourism minister, dropped plans to head the Israeli delegation because of commitments at home, a government spokesperson said.
Lipkin-Shahak said earlier the Palestinians and Clinton agreed with Israel that the meeting "must take place so that the violence and attacks end," but it "doesn't make sense" if the Intifada continues.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Saturday the meeting sought to put an end to "Israeli aggression, to the blockade of the Palestinian territories and to the assassinations of Palestinian officials, but not to the Intifada."
The Israeli delegation should still include Shlomo Yanai, a high-ranking army official, and Avraham Dichter, the head of Israel's internal security force Shin Beth.
But neither the Israeli nor the U.S. embassies here could provide any details on the meeting, let alone say when and if delegates were heading here.
The Palestinian delegation will be headed by intelligence chairman Amin al-Handi, who will be joined by the head of preventive security in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, and his counterpart in the West Bank, Jibril Rajub.
Handi was already in Cairo while Dahlan entered Egypt from Gaza earlier Sunday, Palestinian sources said.
The Palestinian official said the other main participants were the head of Egyptian intelligence Omar Seliman and Tenet, the CIA director, who was expected sometime in the afternoon.
The Palestinian official said the meeting would be held in the evening, ending the same day.
Clinton had personally called for this meeting, following talks in Washington last week with Arafat, who agreed to step up efforts to reduce violence "as much as possible" and to resume security cooperation with Israel.
Palestinian officials said the meeting is one of several that have taken place in Egypt since Clinton extracted ceasefire pledges from Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in mid-October.
Nearly 370 people, the vast majority Palestinians, have died since the Intifada, or uprising, broke out in the Palestinian territories in late September.
Since the 1998 Wye River accord, the CIA has been working to promote cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians on security issues.
Clinton to send Mideast envoy Ross to Israel
Clinton will this week send special Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to Israel, as the effort continues to narrow the gap between Israeli and Palestinian representatives on the latest U.S. peace proposals, a senior U.S. official said Sunday.
Ross was to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian representatives, in what is likely to be his last visit to the region as Clinton's envoy.
Ross would leave for the Middle East "in the next few days," another U.S. official said.
Clinton was, late Sunday, expected to give indications as to the administration’s strategy on the peace process in an address to the Israeli Policy Forum in New York.
However, with just two weeks left before his term ends on January 20th, the Clinton administration has been signaling that a major breakthrough is not necessarily expected during that period.
Rather, it is hoped to pass on to the incoming administration of President-elect George W. Bush a clear picture of the Israeli and Palestinian positions on the U.S. peace proposals presented on December 23rd, possibly formulated in some kind of framework agreement.
"We are going to keep working on trying to develop some way to get [Israelis and Palestinians] to agree on some basic principles, because I think it is useful to the next administration," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on CNN Sunday.
Palestinian officials have said that the effort to reach a settlement will, if necessary, continue under the incoming U.S. president.
Bush's designated foreign policy and national security advisors receive daily briefings from their counterparts in the Clinton administration on issues including the Middle East peace process, officials said.
However, with violence continuing on a daily basis in the Palestinian territories and also inside Israel, prime ministerial elections in Israel on February 6th bring a further sense of urgency to the current attempt to narrow the differences between the two sides.
Barak, who was counting on a peace deal to bolster his chances in the polls, is tipped to lose heavily to right-winger Ariel Sharon.
Meanwhile, Arafat met with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman Sunday.
Arafat's visit to Washington last week, during which he broadly accepted Clinton's proposals as a basis for discussion, was followed by talks here Friday between Clinton and senior Israeli negotiator Gilad Sher.
According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Clinton's proposals, as outlined on December 23rd, would give Palestinians control of the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and shared control of the Temple Mount.
They would also provide for Palestinian control over 95% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians would be asked to abandon their demand for formal recognition for their right of return to Israel proper.
|
