Secretary of State Alexander Haig said today that he believed the autonomy negotiations would soon move forward. “I believe we are ready to get going,” he said in response to questions on the CBS-TV “Face the Nation” program.
He also said he was “optimistic” that a solution will be found to the problem of the location of the talks. Israel has demanded that some of the negotiations be held in Jerusalem while Egypt has refused to meet in Jerusalem.
Haig said he believed that this issue might be cleared up when Premier Menachem Begin meets President Reagan at the UN Special Disarmament Conference in mid-June. They are expected to meet both in New York and in Washington. Haig noted that while Reagan is interested in all aspects of foreign policy, he had an “exceptional interest in the Middle East.”
Haig rejected those who are pessimistic of the future of the Camp David process. He said people seem to forget that only last April 25 there was “an event of major historical significance,” the return of Sinai to Egypt. In addition, he noted that cooperation has developed between the governments of Egypt and Israel. He said that with that “behind us,” the autonomy talks were next.
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