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Soleiman expressed Egypt's concern
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, July 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The visit of
Omar Soleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief, to Israel and his meetings
with both Israeli and Palestinian officials was highlighted by the
Israeli newspapers on Monday, July 8.
The
Israeli daily Ha’aretz claimed that the frequent visits by
Suleiman to Yasser Arafat, alongside top-level telephone calls from
Cairo to Ramallah, are designed to cement Egyptian plans for security
reforms in the Palestinian Authority.
According
to the paper, the plans were shown to Arafat after Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak's trip to Washington and Camp David at the beginning of
June.
Mubarak
told U.S. President George W. Bush that he could persuade Arafat to make
significant reforms in the security forces, and Mubarak proposed he
serve as point man to supervise those reforms, the paper reported.
"Suleiman
is Cairo's George Tenet," a former Egyptian official told Ha'aretz.
"His purpose is to bring the Palestinian Authority back to being a
negotiating partner with Israel under Egyptian guidance, the paper said.
Meanwhile,
the Israeli daily Ma’ariv said Monday that Soleiman expressed
Egypt's concern at the ongoing bloodshed, and that Egypt is willing to
offer any help needed to enhance the relations between the Israelis and
the Palestinian authority.
Soleiman
has also expressed Egypt’s fear that the whole area could be dragged
into a deteriorated situation, the paper added.
He
has also told Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon Egypt’s position
concerning Arafat, confirming that his country considers Arafat the real
and official leader of the Palestinians and that Israel must deal with
that fact, the paper added.
However,
Sharon told Soleiman that Israel can’t deal or negotiate with Arafat
or with any one in his authority, the paper said.
Soleiman
met with Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer in a Jerusalem
hotel and he later met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He
then traveled north to Ramallah in the West Bank to see Arafat.
Soleiman
had been expected to be accompanied by Osama al Baz, political advisor
to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but officials said they had no news
of his arrival in Egypt.
The visit "comes in the light of attempts to emerge from the
crisis in the region caused by Israeli policies," Egypt's Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters in Cairo Saturday, July 6.
