EGYPT/JERUSALEM: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK ANNOUNCES SURPRISE SUMMIT MEETING WITH BILL CLINTON IN WASHINGTON TO PUSH FORWARD PEACE PROCESS

Record ID: 399425

  • Title: EGYPT/JERUSALEM: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK ANNOUNCES SURPRISE SUMMIT MEETING WITH BILL CLINTON IN WASHINGTON TO PUSH FORWARD PEACE PROCESS
  • Date: 9th April 2000
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (APRIL 9, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. MV: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT SEATED/ARAFAT LEANING FORWARD TALKING TO EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK AT PHOTO OPPORTUNITY 0.23 2. C/A: MEDIA 0.26 3. PAN: ARAFAT AND MUBARAK WITH PALESTINIAN AND EGYPTIAN DELEGATIONS (3 SHOTS) 0.42 4. C/A: MEDIA 0.46 5. MV: EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MIN
  • Embargoed: 24th April 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CAIRO, EGYPT/JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVAEU2HEVP2KVQUXYOA582JHQBMN
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has announced a
    surprise summit meeting with United States (U.S) President
    Bill Clinton in Washington this week, in a push to forge a
    final peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians.

    And in Egypt Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has held
    talks with President Hosni Mubarak, saying there has been no
    progress in recent talks in the U.S.

    Arafat told Egyptian leaders in Cairo on Sunday (April
    9) that recent Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the U.S.had
    not made headway.

    Egyptian state television said Arafat and Mubarak, who met
    after Washington announced a new push for Israeli-Palestinian
    peace, discussed Mubarak's consultations with President Bill
    Clinton during a recent trip to the United States.

    Moussa said: "President Arafat said there is no progress
    in the discussions currently taking place in Washington,
    and that it is just chatting, and this is a stage
    that should have happened earlier.

    "And there should be negotiations now, so that we could get to
    a framework agreement and implement what has been agreed
    upon," the Egyptian Foriegn Minister added.

    Negotiating teams, led by Oded Eran for Israel and Yasser
    Abed Rabbo for the Palestinians, began more talks on Friday
    (April 7) at the secluded Bolling Air Force Base in the
    U.S.capital.

    Moussa said Arafat had told Egyptian President Hosni
    Mubarak that Israel was continuing to establish settlements on
    the West Bank.

    Moussa said: "The President listened to what President
    Arafat had to say about the brutality of Israeli settlement
    policy, and that in the last nine months more than 7,000
    settlements have been built in addition to 4,000 settlements
    that have been implemented recently, all of which has lead to
    great anxiety and a new obstacle on the road to peace with the
    Palestianians."
    Moussa stated the Arab position on the proposed Israeli
    withdrawal from southern Lebanon.He said: "The Israeli
    withdrawal from Lebanon has to take place in the shadow and
    framework of the UN resolution 425, and this is a commitment
    to the international community, and this withdrawal we all
    (Arabs) support."
    Israel is trying to muster international support for the
    pullout.Syria and Lebanon have expressed alarm
    at the Israeli plan, which they say could trigger new regional
    violence.

    The White House announced on Saturday (April 8) that Clinton
    had invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat to
    meet him separately in Washington this month.

    Clinton and U.S.Secretary of State Madeleine Albright are
    due to meet Barak on Tuesday (April 11) and Arafat on
    April 20.

    In Jerusalem a statement from Barak's office said the
    Israeli leader would stop in Cairo on Monday for talks
    with Mubarak before he leaves for Washington.

    Clinton administration officials said they did not expect
    any major breakthrough from the meetings but hoped they would
    add a much-needed push to Palestinian-Israeli talks, and
    breathe new life into stalled Syrian-Israeli negotiations.

    The White House statement said Clinton and Barak would
    discuss how to accelerate and intensify the ongoing
    Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in order to reach a framework
    agreement as soon as possible and conclude an agreement on all
    permanent status issues by September 13.

    It said they would also discuss the status of Israeli-Syrian
    talks and Israel's decision to withdraw from Lebanon by July.

    Barak met his cabinet on Sunday to brief ministers on his
    forthcoming summit meeting with Clinton.

    The announcement of the unscheduled meeting came a day after
    U.S.diplomats warned that peace talks near Washington between
    Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were unlikely to achieve
    results without the involvement of the leaders.

    Haim Ramon, senior minister in the Prime Minister's
    office, was asked what the main purpose of Barak's trip was.

    He said: "To make some progress on the peace process in all
    the tracks if possible.

    "For the moment, the Palestinian track seems more
    promising, and we hope that this meeting with President
    Clinton will improve the chance to reach a framework agreement
    in the next month."
    Arafat is due to meet Clinton in Washington in 11 days
    to discuss ongoing peace talks between U.S and Palestinains
    negotiators near Washington.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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