Cairo Conference Opens: Egypt Calls for ‘reciprocity’ by Israel to Its Peace Move; Israel Says Its G

The Cairo conference opened officially this morning with a call by Egypt for “reciprocity” by Israel to its peace initiative. Israel responded that its “goal” at this historic meeting was “to begin to translate the principles established in (Security Council) Resolution 242 into all the necessary elements of a peace treaty.”

The formal opening session began with an address by Egypt’s chief delegate, Ambassador Ahmed Esmat Meguid, who declared that “the whole world hopes that Egypt’s genuine desire for a just and lasting peace will be reciprocated by Israel.” He added that “tangible and concrete results are expected and should be forthcoming without delay.”

Eliahu Ben-Elissar, the head of Israel’s negotiating team, defined the elements of a peace treaty as “termination of the state of war forever, establishment of diplomatic relations, commerce, international cooperation and use of international waterways.” Ben-Elissar’s opening remarks confirmed the prediction by informed sources that Israel hopes the first stage of the Cairo talks will establish “the nature of the peace” leaving territorial issues for a second stage or higher level talks.

FIVE EMPTY CHAIRS AT TABLE

The participants sat at a circular table in the main dining room of the Mena House which is serving as conference headquarters. In addition to Meguid and Ben-Elissar and their aides, the United States was represented by Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs Alfred L. Atherton. United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim was represented by Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo, commander of UN peace-keeping forces in the Middle East. There were five empty chairs at the table reserved for the Arab states, the Soviet Union and the Palestine Liberation Organization which, so far, are boycotting the Cairo talks.

All of the participants, in their opening remarks, expressed the hope that the other parties invited would reverse their decision not to attend and that a comprehensive settlement would eventually emerge from these deliberations.

URGES MOMENTUM BE MAINTAINED

Atherton urged that the momentum created by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat be maintained. He termed this conference as “an integral and contributory step” toward a reconvened Geneva conference “and the negotiation of a comprehensive peace.” He pledged U.S. readiness “to facilitate, support and encourage” the negotiations. “Our respective governments and peoples are expecting to achieve solid results at this meeting and we should not fail them,” Atherton said.

Ben-Elissar regretted the absence of “Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and the appropriate representatives of the Palestinian Arabs. ” He pointedly avoided any reference to the PLO. “Let us resolve that the absence of certain states will not be permitted to frustrate our sacred common effort for peace,” he said.

The conference room and table were devoid of flags or other national symbols and the chairs were unlabeled. This was apparently the result of an agreement reached during closed-door deliberations last night at which Israel reportedly balked at the label “Palestine” on the chair reserved for the Palestinian representative.

But outside the Mena House, the flags of all eight invited countries and the red, green and black Palestinian colors were displayed. An Egyptian spokesman said it was “natural” that these flags would be flown for the duration of the conference. The show of flags outside the hotel was not regarded as having any political significance and no Israeli objections were reported.

Divine providence was invoked by both the main protagonists in their opening statements. Meguid began with the traditional “In the name of Allah” and Ben-Elissar prayed that “God grant us wisdom to succeed…above all for the sake of generations to come.” After the opening session the conference participants adjourned for private discussions reportedly devoted to preparing the agenda.

For all of its momentous historic significance, the conference was overshadowed today by the surprise news that Israeli Premier Menachem Begin flew today to the United States for a meeting with President Carter on Friday. (See related story from Tel Aviv.)