President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt telephoned Premier Menachem Begin this morning to congratulate him on the completion of the Sinai withdrawal. Israeli officials soid Mubarak reiterated his pledge that peace between the two nations would be eternal Begin took the call during the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, the text has been released of Mubarak’s letter to Begin of last week — the letter which enabled Begin to tell his Cabinet last Wednesday that he had received satisfactory reassurances from Egypt, and to recommend to the Cabinet that Israel complete the withdrawal on schedule.
The letter begins by reiterating Egypt’s commitment to peace which Mubarak describes as a “strategic, not merely tactical goal.” There then follows lengthy quotations, mainly in indirect speech, from the March 1979 letter from Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Begin to President Carter pledging to negotiate “in good faith” over Palestinian autonomy. Israeli officials were particularly pleased that Mubarak referred to Camp David as “the only document binding on both our countries,” and affirmed that this was Egypt’s policy “now and it would remain unchanged in the future.”
The letter ends with a strong presentation of Egypt’s position that the arbitration regarding Tabah should be given a definite deadline, so as not to leave unresolved issues between the two sides that could cause friction in the future. Negotiations over Taba continued today in Cairo between high Israel, Egyptian and American officials.
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