THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 2005
WORLD
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
Egypt coercive key in Middle East peace talks Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be reviewed at summit
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt invited the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan yesterday to a summit next week. The move indicates that a much-anticipated breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is in the near future.
Word of the summit came as Damascus-based leaders of the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic jihad met Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo. It is seen as a key step toward securing a truce from Palestinian factions.
The summit will be held Tuesday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. It will focus on a possible Palestinian prisoner release, the fate of Palestinian fugitives, and a West Bank troop redeployment.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan have all accepted invitations to attend from summit host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The White House welcomed the development. "That's an encouraging step that's being taken to build upon the recent
discussions between the Israelis and the Palestinians," White House press secretary Scott McChellan said. "There have been a number of encouraging steps from both parties that show that they want to seize this opportunity before us to move forward."
Israeli television reported the summit would likely result in the return of Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to Israel. Egypt withdrew its envoy after the latest Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. The violence also caused Jordan to delay posting a new ambassador. Egyptian and Jordanian officials declined to confirm the reports.
The statement also said Mubarak, who had refused to meet with Sharon since he became prime minister in 2001, would discuss with the Israeli premier ways "to push peace on the Syrian track."
The Egyptian president's office released a statement saying the summit was arranged in view of "the critical state that the peace process in the Middle East is going through" and was designed to "realize tangible progress on the Palestinian track."
Damascus it said it wants to resume peace talks with Israel,
"T there have been a number of
encouraging steps from both parties that show that they want to seize this opportunity before us to move forward."
Scott McClellan White House press secretary
which collapsed in 2000. But Israel said Syria must first clamp down on Damascus-based Palestinian militant groups responsible for killing hundreds of Israeliis in suicide bombings.
The Arab state was the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel and has been trying for months to coax Palestinian militant factions to stop attacks against Israeli. Egypt is also expected to play a key role in developing Palestinian security services in neighboring Gaza following any planned Israeli withdrawal.
The announcement of the summit comes amid hopes of an imminent breakthrough in efforts to secure a cease-fire from
"There is no agreement yet on a truce" with Israel, Islamic Jihad spokesman Nafez Azzam said in a phone interview from the Gaza Strip. But the talks are "taking place in a positive atmosphere."
Palestinian militants.
Militant leaders say any final agreement depends on Israel's willingness to make crucial concessions, including ending targeted killings of Palestinians leaders and releasing Palestinian prisoners.
Israel resisted to halt attacks on Palestinian militants but its officials have said they will "respond to quiet with quiet."
Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, met here Tuesday with Islamic Jihad's Damascus-based leader Ramadan Shallah. Suleiman is expected to meet Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal later Wednesday.
AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas
Egypt believes a truce can revive the U.S.-backed "road map" plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace and wants to ensure calm in the Gaza Strip after Israel carries out its planned military withdrawal.
Mushaal told the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera that a Palestinian
Jamal Abu Rob, the leader of Al-Aqa Martys Brigades in the West Bank village of Qabatiye near Jenin, holds an M-16 rifle as he walks down the street Tuesday. Abu Rob, who killed three Israelis and two alleged Palestinian informers in the past four years of fighting, said he was tired of life on the run and that he hoped to compete in Palestinian parliamentary elections in July.
cease-fire was not "dependent on a summit," but on Israeli willingness to offer concessions.
"The main issue is an Israeli regression on its position, which means an Israeli commitment to the conditions put forth by the resistance," Mashaal said.
"Without this commitment, if there are many summits, the situation won't change."
Despite the recent momentum, concerns persist about the ability of Palestinian security forces to restrain militant groups.
Nepalese king seizes country's control from government
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KATMANDU, Nepal — The gates to the party headquarters are locked, the offices empty. But around back, a party official gestures to a group of visitors to follow him, and drives away on his motorcycle. He stops along a busy road, hoping no one will notice him amid the clamor of Katmandu's morning traffic.
Shovakar Parajuli risked arrest for his quick trip yesterday to the office of the Nepali Congress party, the country's main opposition group, slipping in for a few sheets of party stationery.
He'd been on the run since the day before, when King
Gyanendra declared a state of emergency and ousted the government, saying it had failed to bring Nepal's growing Maoist revolt under control. Parajuli now avoids his house and office, stays with friends and moves around the city constantly, dodging police sweeps.
Technically, political activity remains legal in Nepal. But the draconian legal measures ordered by the king and the swift deployment of security forces,
This is what passes for political activity now in Nepal, where all the phones lines are cut, soldiers oversee newspaper newsrooms and most political activists are either in jail or have gone underground.
has frozen the political scene. The measures include suspending constitutional provisions protecting freedom of speech and public assembly, and outlawing preventive detention.
in neighboring India, already dealing with a decades-long dispute with Pakistan, the concerns go far beyond tourism.
The turmoil threatens the stability of a nation where some of the world's worst poverty exists alongside some of its most spectacular scenery. The Arkansas-sized country of 25 million people is home to eight of the planet's 14 highest peaks, including Mt. Everest, and is a premier destination for trekkers and mountaineers.
Yesterday, it was hard to find a politician operating openly: Ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was in his house under armed guard and the offices of the Nepali Congress were locked down. At the headquarters of the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party, a caretaker said the building was empty and at the home of the
A statement Tuesday by India's foreign ministry called the king's actions "a cause of grave concern." Yesterday, a clearly frustrated Indian foreign secretary, Shyam Saran, complained that New Delhi officials could only reach their embassy in Katmandu by satellite telephone.
party's leader, Madap Kumar, at least a half-dozen soldiers were making sure no one visited him.
Gyanendra swore in a 10-member cabinet on Wednesday, with himself as its head. Later, officials said the new government would try to bring the rebels back to the peace table.
The rebels, who say they are inspired by Mao Zedong, the Chinese communist founding father, control much of rural Nepal. They broke off peace talks in August 2003 and balk at invitations from Deuba's now-ousted government to restart talks, insisting real authority remained in the king's hands.
Most of the new ministers are fierce supporters of the king, who came to power in 2001 after his brother, King Birendra, was gunned down in a palace massacre apparently committed by Birendra's son, the crown prince, who also died.
This country has become increasingly cynical about both politics and royalty since a popular "People's Movement" revolt forced the absolute monarchy to allow multiparty democracy in 1990. While opinion polls indicate the country supports the idea of democracy, inter-party squabbling and government inability to deal with the rebellion means few parties get widespread support.
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