Peace Talks Going Well

The depth of the relationship between an Israeli-Egyptian agreement and the Camp David framework dealing with the West Bank and Gaza Strip remained obscure today. A volley of pointed questions, fired at George Sherman of the State Department, official spokesman for the negotiators at Blair House failed to elicit more than a reiteration of President Carter’s remark at a press conference last week that the two are not “legally interconnected” but are “interrelated.”

Sherman said, in reply to questions at this afternoon’s press briefing that the relationship between the two is “partially dependent” on the treaty that is expected to emerge from the Blair House talks. But he said he “cannot answer directly because it gets me into the content of the treaty.” He said at another point that “as a matter of practical fact, there is a connection between the two.” He noted that “we see the Egyptian-Israeli treaty as part of the effort to reach a comprehensive agreement” in the Middle East.

Sherman said the State Department prepared the “American answers” to the questions raised by King Hussein of Jordan about the Camp David accords and “they have not been shown to anyone else.” The answers were taken to Hussein by Assistant Secretary of State Harold Saunders who flew to Amman yesterday. Sherman said that Saunders’ itinerary–how long he will be in Amman and if he will go elsewhere in the region has not been set.

There was no formal meeting between the negotiating delegations at Blair House today because of the Succoth holiday. But the Israeli and Egyptian delegates held informal discussions at the Madison Hotel where they are quartered.

The talks at Blair House will be resumed tomorrow. Sherman said the talks continue to go well. He acknowledged that the issue of Jewish settlements on the West Bank has been discussed but would not elaborate. He said the negotiations are being conducted in English, based on the draft treaty text presented by the U.S. which is in English. (By Joseph Polakoff)