The Middle East peace process appeared to get a boost today with reports from Cairo that King Hussein of Jordan, at his meeting with President Hosni Mubark, endorsed the Egyptian leader’s negotiations initiative.
Officials here were cautiously optimistic that statements made after the Mubarak-Hussein meeting had “not closed the door” to the future, positive evolution of Mubarak’s initiative. They were more heartened however by Premier Shimon Peres’ receipt of a warm and supportive letter today from Secretary of State George Shultz. Shultz offered assurances that the U.S. remains committed to oppose any effort to insinuate the Palestine Liberation Organization into the peace process unless and until the PLO recognizes Israel’s right to exist and accepts United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.
Many Israelis, especially leaders of the Likud component of the unity coalition government had expressed concern that Mubarak’s proposal for a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to go to Washington to discuss peace negotiations with the Reagan Administration was intended to open contacts between the U.S. and the PLO.
NON-PLO PALESTINIANS STRESSED
Shultz wrote that Peres’ and Mubarak’s “concurrence… that non-PLO Palestinians (be) included in a Jordanian delegation” and the Egyptian President’s emphasis on direct negotiations, were both factors that would help pave the path to peace, although, the Secretary cautioned, it would be a long path.
Shultz added, according to Israeli sources, that he shared Peres’ view that negotiations which would encourage “transitional arrangements as a first step” would be a constructive way to make progress.
Some Israelis close to Peres had feared that Hussein, under pressure from Arab hardliners, would publicly reject Mubarak’s initiative, providing Likud with ammunition in their campaign to discredit it. This did not happen. Hussein endorsed negotiations, though with reservations. Nevertheless, political observers here felt he had gone as far as could have been expected, given the exigencies of inter-Arab politics.
According to reports from Cairo, Hussein endorsed the idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to start a dialogue with Washington but said nothing about negotiating with Israel. Israeli officials stressed that their desire is for peace talks involving Israel, not a first round in which only the Americans and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation would participate.
They were clearly pleased however that Shultz had seen fit to write to Peres just six days before Mubarak is due in Washington for talks with President Reagan, March 12. The Shultz letter was seen here as a signal to all concerned that the positions long shared by the U.S. and Israel were not in danger of being abandoned.
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