Jordan Times
Monday, May 31, 1999
Observers see little chance of five-party Arab summit before Barak takes office
By Caroline Faraj with agencies
MMAN — Despite intensified efforts to convene a five-way Arab summit to prepare a united stand for negotiations with the new Israeli government, Arab leaders appear reluctant to hold such a meeting now, an Arab diplomat said on Sunday.
“It seems the current efforts to hold a mini-Arab summit for the so-called frontline countries — Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian National Authority — to discuss future moves regarding the peace process with a new Israeli government will be unsuccessful,” the diplomat, who requested anonymity, told the Jordan Times.
The diplomat said that “efforts were being exerted to reconcile Syria and the PNA to allow such a meeting to take place.”
The call for the summit was initiated by the Palestinians in order to “coordinate stances'' ahead of the resumption of negotiations with the government of Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak.
But the envoy also said the Palestinians would like to have guarantees that Syria and Lebanon will not cut separate peace deals with Israel before a final settlement of the Palestinian issue.
“Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is apparently concerned that Israel would try to divide Arab ranks by cutting separate peace deals with Syria and Lebanon while stalling on a settlement of the Palestinian issue, the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” said the diplomat.
Syria strongly criticised Arafat for signing a unilateral peace deal with Israel, saying his 1993 accord weakened the united Arab position at peace talks and favoured Israel.
Jordan has reiterated its position in support of any Arab summit and has been exerting its own efforts for a united Arab stand.
Before leaving Amman on Sunday with His Majesty King Abdullah for talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh said the meeting would “focus on convening the summit as soon as possible in order to overcome the hurdles facing the Middle East peace process.''
“The world has hopes that the new government in Israel will work towards advancing the peace process and putting it back on the right track,'' Rawabdeh said.
Earlier, Rawabdeh said “Jordan is always supportive of and ready to attend any Arab meeting at any level for the sake of safeguarding pan-Arab interests.”
King Abdullah, who met with U.S. President Bill Clinton on May 18, hosted Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Saturday, two days after the King visited Arafat in the Gaza Strip.
But a Jordanian official also cast doubts about the success of an Arab summit at this stage.
“We are worried that if the mini-summit took place, it will increase differences between some of the leaders,” said the official.
“If we fail to bridge the gap between Syria and the Palestinian Authority, it will definitely have a negative impact on Arab relations as a whole,” the official added.
He also noted that all joint official statements issued over the last few days made no specific mention of a five-party summit, but rather simply called for a united Arab position.
The official was referring to the joint statements issued in Gaza on Wednesday when the King held talks with Arafat, and also the final communiqué issued at the end of the Jordanian-Lebanese talks here in Amman.
On Thursday, Jordan sent Royal Court Chief Abdul Karim Kabariti to deliver a letter from King Abdullah to Syrian President Hafez Assad as part of efforts to make use of the positive climate in relations with Syria and convince the Syrians to mend fences with the Palestinians.
Officials said privately that Assad, in a meeting with Kabariti, demanded a clear agenda for the meeting before Syria gives a response.
Assad and Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Musa on Saturday also discussed the possibility of reviving Arab-Israeli peace talks following the election of Barak.
However, some observers also say that the “Arabs are divided over the timing of a summit.”
“Some Arab officials believe it is premature to hold this summit before Barak forms his cabinet and clearly announces his policies ahead of resuming peace negotiations,” said one politician.
“However,” he added, “some believe that Barak's policies were clear the day he won the elections.”
Barak, who has until early July to form a new government, has said he intends to give priority to advancing peace talks with the Palestinians and has expressed readiness to resume talks with Syria.
But since his election victory, Barak has worried the Arabs with a series of hardline policy statements which echoed in many respects the stands taken by Benyamin Netanyahu's government.
He has ruled out negotiating over the status of Arab east Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to establish the capital of a future state, and said that large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank will remain under Israeli control under any final peace deal.
Barak also rejected Palestinian demands that Israel withdraw from all of the West Bank, occupied in 1967.