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Recalled Egyptian Ambassador Upbeat over Mideast Peace
Egypt's ambassador to Israel, who was recalled last month to protest Israeli excessive use of force against Palestinians, expressed optimism over the future of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks Monday, December 4.
Ambassador Mohammed Bassiouni told Xinhua that he expects the Palestinian and Israeli sides could reach an agreement within the next 50 days -- before U.S. President Bill Clinton's tenure ends next January.
If the two sides could not reach a comprehensive agreement that settles all the five most contentious issues -- Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, borders, Jewish settlements and water -- by that time, they could at least reach a framework agreement, Bassiouni said.
Citing that Clinton has vowed to devote the remainder of his tenure to the Palestinian-Israeli talks, Bassiouni said he believes that an agreement could be reached if both sides can grasp the opportunity.
He pointed out that all issues in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have already been thoroughly discussed. What is required now is Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's determination to make " political decisions" on implementing all the relevant UN resolutions and signed agreements, he said.
Referring to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli violent clashes, Bassiouni said the Palestinian intifada (popular uprising) is aimed "not at war but at peace."
The intifada has proved to the Israeli public that the disputes between the two sides cannot be settled through violence, but only through peaceful negotiations, and that peace cannot be achieved unless Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem is fulfilled.
More than 290 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed and thousands wounded in more than two months of violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers.
The clashes, which Palestinians see as their intifada against Israeli aggression, were triggered by hardline Israeli politician Ariel Sharon's provocative visit late September to an East Jerusalem shrine holy to Muslims and Jews.
Bassiouni, who has been Egypt's ambassador to Israel since 1986, was recalled by President Hosni Mubarak on November 21, one day after Israel's massive missile attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The ambassador said he would only return to Tel Aviv if all the factors that led to his recall cease to exist. The conditions include, among other things, Israel's halt of violence against the Palestinian people and lifting of blockade on Palestinian territories.
The veteran diplomat said he believe that the Palestinian and Israeli people can coexist peacefully if a comprehensive and just peace is reached between the two sides.
He emphasized that Israel should implement UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and withdraw from the Palestinian lands it seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
"We cannot accept anything less than what was endowed upon us by international legitimacy," he noted.
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