Arabs Slam U.S. Intention to Move Embassy to JerusalemThe Arab League criticized the United States on Thursday for its intention to move the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose status is still under negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.The declared U.S. desire "does not conform with its role as a major sponsor of the Middle East peace process," said Ahmed Ben Heli, the league's assistant secretary-general. Speaking to Egypt's Middle East News Agency, Heli said the announcement by U.S. President Bill Clinton contradicted the country's principled position that East Jerusalem remains part of the Arab territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. In an interview broadcast on Israeli television last Friday, Clinton said that he was considering moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem by the end of the year. Arabs have been angered by Clinton's expressed desire. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said early this week that the question of moving the U.S. embassy was an extremely thorny issue. He urged all parties to avoid taking unilateral steps which that disturb the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The Palestinians want Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state. But Israel insists that the holy city, sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is its "eternal and indivisible" capital, a claim not recognized by the international community, including the U.S. |
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