|
|
Change Your Life! |
Wont September 13, be that golden date? |
|
News
|
|
|
August 14, 2000
CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's president said Sunday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may put off plans to declare an independent Palestinian state on Sept. 13, the deadline for a final Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. "This may happen, I don't know and I can't say this, but I believe the delay may take place," President Hosni Mubarak told reporters as he inaugurated a scientific research center. "We don't want any clash between the two sides." Arafat repeatedly has said he will declare an independent state Sept. 13, and Egypt has been among Arab nations to say that they would recognize a Palestinian state whenever Arafat chooses to declare it. However, Palestinian officials have said that Arab countries, under pressure from the United States, urged Arafat to postpone the declaration of independence, to give another chance to the talks with Israel. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker has been briefing Arab leaders on U.S. positions and urging them not to do anything to lessen chances for a resumption of negotiations. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Associated Press in Jerusalem that the Palestinians are reluctant to change the deadline because they do not want negotiations with Israel to go on "without a ceiling, open-ended." "My instructions from Arafat, and this we've conveyed to the Israelis, are to reach an agreement with the Israelis no later than Sept. 13," Erekat said Sunday. But Palestinian legislator Ziyad Abu Ziyad said the decision on a date for a declaration was not final. "In any case, there will be a meeting of the PLO central council at the end of August or beginning of September to make a final decision on the date for a declaration," Ziyad told Israel radio. Mubarak, a key mediator in the Mideast peace process, also said a deal between Israel and the Palestinians before the Sept. 13 deadline was possible, but his words were not optimistic. "The issue needs hard and combined efforts and, God willing, I hope we will strike a deal, but I can't say if that will be before or after Sept 13," Mubarak said. In July, a two-week summit with Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak collapsed over the issue of Jerusalem's fate. Barak offered the Palestinians limited control over parts of east Jerusalem, but Arafat held firm on Palestinians' demand for full sovereignty over the traditionally Arab area. Israel traditionally has said Jerusalem must remain united under Israeli sovereignty. East Jerusalem contains sites holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews, including the third-holiest shrine in the Islamic world. In comments published Saturday, Mubarak warned that a compromise over Jerusalem would lead to uncontrollable violence in the Middle East, and said no Arab or Muslim can relinquish rights to east Jerusalem and its holy sites. "Any compromise over Jerusalem will cause the region to explode in a way that cannot be put under control and terrorism will rise again," Mubarak told the Cairo weekly magazine Rose El-Youssef in his first public comment after the collapse of the Camp David talks. |