Israel and its three regional peace partners-Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization-concluded a historic summit Thursday with a communique reaffirming their commitment to the peace process and denouncing terror and violence in the region.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin President Hosni Mubarak, Jordanian King Hussein and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat met for more than four hours in unprecedented talks focused on the future of the regional peace process.
At the conclusion of the summit, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa read a joint communique in which the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a comprehensive peace in the region and to fulfill the accords between them.
The leaders also called for a prompt move “to conclude the negotiations on the interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in all its aspects.”
They also vowed to work “to improve the climate and build the confidence between the parties.”
To this end, they established a general framework for continued negotiations between Israel and the PLO.
As part of that framework, the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and a Palestinian representative will meet in Washington next week.
Rabin and Arafat are also scheduled to meet next week at the Erez checkpoint between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The leaders expressed their appreciation of the swift implementation of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, and of Egypt’s role in the peace process.
They also condemned “all outbreaks of bloodshed, terror and violence in the region.”
The phrasing of this clause was believed to have been an issue of some dispute, according to Israeli news reports. .TX.-Moussa told reporters that no agreement was reached on two major sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations: the expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and the lifting of the closure imposed on the territories following a Jan. 22 suicide bomb attack near Netanya that claimed the lives of 21 Israelis.
But Moussa said the summit had resuscitated the peace process. “I believe the Palestinian-Israeli peace process is back on track,” he said.
Prior to the meeting, the four leaders gathered at Mubarak’s palace for Iftar, the traditional daily sunset meal with which Muslims break the monthlong Ramadan fast.
Earlier in the day, Mubarak held separate meeting with Arafat, King Hussein and Rabin. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Moussa joined the talks between Rabin and Mubarak.
Before leaving for Cairo, Rabin said he would call on Arafat to crack down on terrorists operating from the autonomous areas. Rabin said Palestinian fulfillment of its obligations in the self-rule accords would determine the pace of negotiations.
“We have a demand of the Palestinian Authority, and we will present it at every meeting,” Rabin said.
The summit took place amid reports of deteriorating relations between Israel and Egypt.
In an interview published Wednesday in The New York Times, Moussa had sharply criticized Israel.
Moussa accused Israel of dragging its feet implementing the autonomy accord and said the delay was the cause for the stepped-up terror attacks.
Syria, whose peace talks with Israel have been at an impasse for several months, was absent from the summit.
Moussa said Syrian President Hafez Assad was not invited because it was clear he would not send any representation and “we don’t want to embarrass him.”
Peres told Army Radio that Assad would have been welcome at the meeting.
“We aren’t leaving Assad out. Assad is leaving himself out,” Peres said. “Assad had divorced himself from the process of war, and he has yet to marry the peace process.”
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