Israeli officials are trying to deduce whether Egypt has or has not recognized the independent Palestinian state proclaimed by Yasir Arafat last week.
They have not had much help yet from the seemingly contradictory statements coming from Cairo this weekend.
The official Egyptian news agency, MENA, reported Sunday that a “senior official” has recognized the new “state.”
But the same news agency, on Saturday, denied its own earlier report that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt had extended recognition.
According to MENA, the transcription of the president’s comments was faulty. The word “recognition” was dropped.
The official quoted Sunday was not identified. Some local reports said it was Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmet Abdel Meguid.
He was quoted as saying, “Egypt blesses this constructive step and hopes that it would serve the cause of peace and stability in the region.”
Meguid met Sunday with the Israeli ambassador in Cairo, Shimon Shamir.
Meguid made no reference whatever to recognition of a Palestinian state, although the message conveyed by the envoy made clear Israel’s objections to the Palestine National Council’s Nov. 15 declaration.
The Egyptian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Mohammad Basyouni, said Egypt’s support of the PNC proclamation was better than recognition of a state.
Egypt appears concerned that unequivocal recognition would be seen by Israel as a violation of the Camp David accords, the basis of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979.
Top Israeli officials are witholding comment.
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