The Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, David Kimche, and the Ministry’s Legal Adviser, Robbi Sabel, left for Cairo Wednesday for a meeting with Ismet Abdul Meguid, Egypt’s Foreign Minister.
The purpose of the visit is to “complete the preparations toward signing the Taba compromis, “according to political sources in Jerusalem. An agreement on procedures for submitting the boundary dispute over Taba to a panel of international arbitrators was concluded two weeks ago by Israel and Egypt. But the two countries have not yet agreed on who will be the arbitrators.
The Egyptian weekly al-Musawwar, known to be close to President Hosni Mubarak, reported Wednesday that the summit between Mubarak and Premier Shimon Peres would take place September 10 to 11 in Alexandria. The two leaders are expected to meet for several working sessions.
The weekly added that Egypt continued to believe that some progress was needed on the Palestinian issue. “Peres would commit a mistake if he came to Alexandria, holding the same views he presented at the summit with King Hassan of Morocco,” the paper said. After his historic meeting with Peres last month, the Moroccan monarch stated that Israel’s Premier had brought no new ideas on resolving the Palestinian problem.
Political sources in Jerusalem expressed concern Wednesday that Egyptian foot-dragging in selecting the three international arbitrators on the Taba dispute might delay the signing ceremony on the compromise and perhaps even the summit.
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