Premier Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat will meet June 4 at Ophira (Sharm el-Sheikh) in southern Sinai for a discussion of bilateral issues and the Middle East situation in general, it was announced here today. The meeting, their first in 16 months, was suggested by Begin and promptly accepted by the Egyptian leader.
The announcement surprised even senior government officials since it was generally believed that such meetings would not take place before the June 30 Knesset elections. According to an official communique, Begin’s invitation was conveyed to Sadat by Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon who visited Egypt last week. Begin confirmed the June 4 date and place in a telephone call to Sadat this morning. The two men have met nine times previously since Sadat initiated the Egyptian-Israeli peace process with his dramatic visit to Jerusalem in November, 1977.
Sources here said the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting would be a “tour d’horizon” of issues between the two countries and the Middle East. They are expected to discuss the continuing peace process, the normalization of relations and the creation of a multinational force to police Sinai after Israel completes its withdrawal in April, 1982. A matter of immediate concern, the Israeli-Syrian missile crisis, is considered certain to be on their agenda.
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