State Department legal advisor Abraham Sofaer arrived in Cairo Sunday for what the State Department is describing as another attempt to mediate the Israel-Egypt dispute over the small strip of territory called Taba. Sofaer is expected in Israel later in the week.
The trip which is Sofaer’s second to the region in a month, has resolution of the Taba dispute as its only objective, State Department spokesman Charles Redman told reporters Friday. He had been asked whether Sofaer would also be taking up the Jonathan Pollard espionage affair with Israeli authorities.
“The purpose of this trip would be Taba. Whether or not other people might choose to raise aspects of other issues which are within his competence, that would be their prerogative and he would certainly be prepared, I would think, to discuss that, ” Redman said.
ISSUE OF QUESTIONING ISRAELIS
There have been rumors over the past several weeks that U.S. authorities are seeking either to extradite Israelis involved or said to be involved in the spy case, or to make them available for questioning in Israel. But Redman indicated there was no intention to put forward such a request as part of Sofaer’s visit.
Sofaer went to Israel and Egypt late last month in an unsuccessful effort to mediate an agreement on resolving the problem of Taba, which both countries claim and which remained effectively under Israel’s control following its withdrawal from the Sinai in April 1982.
The State Department would not comment on the status of the Taba negotiations, and whether there was any indication that the upcoming trip might help break the current deadlock.
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