The United States will not consider any assurances sought by Egypt for Israeli-Palestinian talks until Cairo accepts Secretary of State James Baker’s five-point proposal for such talks, the State Department reiterated Thursday.
Baker spoke Thursday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid, their second telephone conversation this week, but the Egyptians are still unable “to give us an official yes,” State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said.
“If the Egyptians want clarifications or some side understandings, we would be prepared, just as we have been with the Israelis, to discuss them, but only after we have reached a definite yes to the five points,” Tutwiler said.
Israel’s Inner Cabinet accepted Baker’s five points, but included a request for six assurances. The most important were that the Israel-Palestinian talks deal only with setting up an election for Palestinians in the territories, and that the Palestine Liberation Organization be excluded from any part in the negotiating process.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir failed to receive the assurances he sought when he met with President Bush and Baker here Nov. 15.
Baker has indicated that he would deal with requests for clarification when both sides have accepted his five points.
But Egypt, which has been consulting with the PLO, is reportedly asking for assurances that would be diametrically opposed to those sought by Israel.
Egypt wants the Palestinian delegation to include representatives from East Jerusalem and at least two Palestinians from outside the West Bank.
Egypt also wants the negotiations to discuss broader issues, including the PLO’s demand for a Palestinian state.
Shamir would have the negotiations only involve the modalities of Palestinian elections, in which representatives of the West Bank and Gaza Strip would choose representatives to negotiate with Israel on autonomy.
The PLO has publicly denounced Baker’s proposals. It insists on participating in the negotiations and wants to choose the Palestinian delegates.
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.
