Egyptian Official Says U.S. Should Open Talks with Arafat Because He is ‘a Voice of Reason and Moder

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s foreign affairs adviser, Osama Baz, said today in Cairo that the United States should open talks with PLO leader Yasir Arafat.

According to reports reaching here from the Egyptian capital, Baz told reporters that Arafat “is a responsible leader of the Palestinian people” and that he has “established himself as a voice of reason and moderation within the Palestinian movement.” For that reason, Baz said, “we are calling on the U.S. to establish a dialogue” with Arafat and with “Palestinian representatives to advance the cause of peace.”

The Egyptian official spoke to reporters after a meeting between Mubarak and his senior advisers in which they assessed last Thursday’s meeting between Arafat and Mubarak. Israel denounced the meeting as a blow to peace prospects in the Mideast while the Reagan Administration viewed it as “an encouraging development.” Baz said today that Israel was wrong to believe that Arafat’s meeting with Mubarak was a blow to peace and termed Israel’s reaction “negative.”