Cairo witnessed a week of intense contacts between peace process players. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty report With the American road map for peace in the Middle East on hold until Israel's elections take place next month, Cairo continued to seek out different points of view on prospects for a better regional future, by listening to what both Palestinians and dovish Israeli officials had to say. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat and Labour Knesset Member Yossi Katz were in Cairo on Sunday for separate talks with Egyptian officials. Both men conveyed messages from their bosses to President Hosni Mubarak; Palestinian President Yasser Arafat updated Mubarak on the situation in the Palestinian territories, and the new Labour Party leader Amram Mitzna committed himself to making peace with the Palestinians if he is elected prime minister of Israel. Meanwhile, Mubarak sent a letter to Baba Louis Foul, the chairman of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, to protest the UN's ineffectiveness in protecting the Palestinians from daily Israeli aggressions. Qatar's foreign minister came to Cairo with his country's proposal to hold an extraordinary Arab summit, but this was met with a lukewarm reaction from officials, mainly because a regular Arab summit is scheduled to convene in Bahrain next March. In speeches and media statements this week top Egyptian officials called on the Israeli people to take advantage of the opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians by electing a government on 28 January that will bring them stability and security -- a jab at the record of incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose government has only thrown gasoline on the raging Palestinian Intifada for over two years. "I call on the leadership and people of Israel to realise before it's too late that the use of force to impose security will further ignite violence and bloodshed on both sides," said Mubarak in a speech aired on Sunday. Mubarak said that there is still "an opportunity for the Israeli people to correct their course of action, and move towards a road that will achieve real peace, security and stability". Mubarak believes that if the Israeli people and their leaders took this route, "they will have our support and that of all Arab countries". Egypt, in the meantime, "will continue to prepare the Palestinian leadership to efficiently take charge of their responsibilities". He took Sharon's government to task for its heavy-handed policies, saying that "occupation of another's land and insulting their pride will instill revenge in the hearts of generations to come." The only alternative to stop the violence is by reaching "just and comprehensive solutions to the political, economic and social issues at hand", Mubarak said. He wants to see a re-launch of "direct and serious negotiations" between Palestinians and Israelis so that the Palestinian people "feel there is a chance that their own sovereign state" will come to exist. In his letter to the UN's Foul, Mubarak warned that the Palestinian crisis is at a "critical" juncture, and that despite political efforts by many parties to revive the peace process, "Israel has not backed down from attempting to break the will of the Palestinian people and extinguish resistance." He reiterated that the struggle to take back one's land should not be equated with terrorism, and that "biased and blind support of Israel has destructive repercussions for the region." Mubarak protested Israel's violations of Palestinian rights, and Tel Aviv's debilitating conditions for the launch of negotiations. "The preconditions amount to flagrant interference in the internal affairs of the Palestinians," said Mubarak, in reference to Sharon's insistence that Arafat be removed from power before talks begin between the two sides. "Israel has breached most UN resolutions, and it is time that the UN shoulder its responsibility to end the tragedy of the Palestinian people. An important step is to protect the Palestinian people." Meanwhile, this week's separate meeting between Egyptian officials and the Labour Party envoy aimed to lay the ground for a dialogue between Cairo and Sharon's main opponents in the coming elections. Although Arafat and Mitzna's envoys met almost back-to- back with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Sunday, Cairo was quick to deny that it was playing a mediating role between the Palestinians and the Israeli "peace camp". The timing of the two visits was "a coincidence," argued Maher, the only link being "that the issue of discussion at both meetings was peace and how to achieve peace". Both Erekat and Katz also denied that there was any planned meeting between them in Cairo. Katz said he was charged with "opening a new channel of communication between the Labour Party and the Egyptian government, especially [now]". While in Cairo, Katz also met with Mubarak's chief political adviser Osama El-Baz. Labour spokesman On Levy said that Katz's visit could pave the way for a trip to Egypt by Mitzna, but Maher denied that Katz had asked Egypt to receive Mitzna. Maher also denied that Egypt was trying in any way to influence the outcome of the Israeli elections by conducting meetings with Labour Party members. "It is not up to us to choose leaders for the Israeli people," said Maher after meeting with Katz. "We welcome any peace offering regardless of the source," he added. Unlike earlier visits this year by Labour Party members, Israel's Ambassador to Cairo Gideon Ben Ami attended this week's meeting. Katz's visit drew criticism from Sharon, who told his Likud Party supporters on Monday: "This is no secret. Arab nations are interfering in the elections here [because] they know that only a government in which the Likud is the central player will be able to stand up to [Palestinian] demands, from which nothing will be given [Israel] in return." The next day, Maher dismissed Sharon's comments as mere campaign rhetoric. "It is no concern [of ours] who leads Israel; we are ready to co- operate with whomever undertakes policies which result in a just and fair resolution," stressed Maher. Tensions over Cairo's "interference" in Israeli domestic politics reached a peak last August, after several Labour Party members visited Egypt, including then Labour leader and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer. Israeli officials at the time expressed their displeasure at Mubarak's criticism of Sharon, while at the same time welcoming opposition party members. But Katz sees Likud criticism of Labour's channels with Cairo as myopic "In a democratic country [like Israel] it is very important to open channels between the leaders of the biggest [opposition] party and the [officials] of the most important country in this region," Katz said. Katz briefed Egyptian officials on Mitzna's vision of peace. "[Mitzna] re- affirmed that if he won the elections, he will move immediately into negotiations with the Palestinians," Maher said. Mitzna has said that if elected in January, he would evacuate Israeli settlements and troops within one year, and later curb settlements and deployments in the West Bank. In his meeting with Maher, Erekat discussed recent contacts between the Palestinians and Israelis, as well as the Palestinian-American talks on the peace road map. Erekat told reporters that the Palestinians have five basic requirements: Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories; lifting the siege placed on the Palestinians; ending assassinations and violations by Israel; halting settlement activities; and the release of all Palestinian detainees. Erekat added that it is important for the diplomatic Quartet -- which includes the US, EU, Russia and UN -- to decide in their 20 December meeting to dispatch international observers to the region immediately. There was no immediacy, however, regarding Qatar's request, which echoes a Libyan proposal, to hold an extraordinary Arab summit to address the escalating tensions in the region. After meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Maher said that the proposal is still being discussed. "We think that every Arab meeting is important, but more important is what comes out of it -- its goals and results," Maher said.
