Richard Fairbanks, Secretary of State Alexander Haig’s special representative for the autonomy talks between Egypt and Israel, who arrived in Israel last night, today held his first meeting with Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Interior Minister Yosef Burg, the chief Israeli autonomy negotiator. Fairbanks is scheduled to meet with Premier Menachem Begin tomorrow.
Fairbanks told reporters after his meeting that it was to early for him to make any statements. He said the purpose of his trip was “largely fact-finding and educational.” But he expressed hope that the stalled autonomy negotiations would pick up momentum after Israeli and Egyptian officials meet February 28 to determine if there is sufficient agreement to schedule higher level talks of ministers from both countries. The talks have made no tangible progress since they began in mid-1979.
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.
