Israeli and Egyptian Foreign Ministers, Moshe Dayan and Butros Ghali, flew into this European capital together to address the Council of Europe, a parliamentary assembly consisting of representatives of 21 West European countries. The two men will explain tomorrow their views on peace in the Middle East, the implementation of the Camp David agreements and answer parliamentarians’ questions.
The two ministers had a brief conversation aboard the plane which flew them from Paris to Strasbourg and are meeting again tonight at a dinner given by the President of the parliamentary assembly, Hans de Koster of Holland.
Both Israel and Egypt will jointly defend the Camp David agreements and their implementation while, according to diplomatic sources, certain parliamentarians now feel the need for a European dialogue with the Palestinians.
MOVE TO INVITE-PLO REPRESENTATIVE
A number of assembly members are preparing a draft resolution asking that a Palestine Liberation Organization representative be invited to address the assembly, A West German Socialist deputy, Linelotte von Bothner, said here today that some 30 members at least are already backing such a move. The Council consists of 170 deputies.
Mrs. von Bothner said that the assembly’s bureau will have to take a decision on this subject, The bureau has already decided to invite the Foreign Ministers of Jordan Syria and Lebanon to address the assembly and Council representatives are due to visit these three countries, A Council delegation visited Israel and Egypt last summer.
Deputies from a number of West European countries said here today the assembly’s mood is changing, indicating that many parliamentarians now tend to favor a European dialogue with the Palestinians and some sort of Palestinian participation in the autonomy talks. Dayan and Ghali will hold a joint press conference tomorrow and probably leave Strasbourg Thursday morning.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.