Talks between Egypt and the United States on President Anwar Sadat’s demands for alterations in agreements Egypt has already reached with Israel on a peace treaty will continue at least till tomorrow evening.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustapha Khalil, who arrived here last Thursday for talks with President Carter and other top Administration officials decided to postpone his scheduled departure for Europe last night after he met for two hours yesterday with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and afterwards described the talks as “useful and constructive.” Asked if a decision was taken to resume the negotiations, Khalil said Egypt would like to see the talks resumed, “but there is no decision.”
(In Jerusalem, Premier Menachem Begin said over the weekend that Israel is ready to sign the present peace treaty draft any moment, although he noted that it may be a matter of weeks before it is actually signed. Speaking before a United Jewish Appeal delegation, he expressed confidence that a treaty would be signed. “Only war is avoidable, peace in unavoidable,” Begin said.
(In Cairo, Acting Foreign Minister Boutros Ghali said in an interview with Al-Ahram that Egypt and Israel might decide to postpone their Dec. 17 deadline for signing a treaty. He said he doubted that Israel would oppose this, but if it did, Ghali said, “this means it does not want peace.”)
NEW TREATY LANGUAGE MAY BE NECESSARY
Khalil delivered Sadat’s latest position to Carter at a three-hour meeting Friday at the White House, which was also attended by Vance, Vice President Walter Mondale and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. The unexpectedly long meeting was interpreted by some qualified sources as indicating that Carter has not accepted Sadat’s view as offered to him but that new longuage was necessary to obtain at least a measure of Israeli agreement.
The session yesterday between Khalil and Vance was seen as designed to do that. However, it is believed that no decision was made, pending Israel’s Cabinet meeting today. There was some indication that Khalil may have decided to delay his trip to Europe to await the results of the Cabinet meeting and to discuss those with Administration officials tomorrow.
Vance said after the White House meeting that “it was emphasized that the negotiations” between Israel and Egypt “will continue in fulfillment of the accords reached at Camp David” but he did not say when they would be resumed. The Blair House conference, started on Oct. 12, has been in a state of suspension for three w### as a result of the new demands from Sadat.
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