West Asia: Scepticism over meet

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), OCT. 14. Even as the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, are set to attend the summit being convened by Egypt at Sharm-el Sheikh on Monday, a few clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces were reported this morning. However, the violence seems to be abating with no casualties reported till the evening.

Despite fears that there would be clashes after Friday prayers yesterday, especially since Palestinian militant outfits had called for a ``day of rage'', there has been relative calm over the past 24 hours. With both leaders declaring that they will try to put an end to the fighting, the chances that the cease-fire will hold have improved.

Mr. Arafat was reportedly very reluctant to attend the summit and had to be repeatedly pressed by Mr. Clinton and the U.N. Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who has been shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian headquarters. The Palestinian leader was not very enthusiastic since the conditions that he set for his attendance at the summit have not been met. He had wanted a prior promise that Israel would pull its troops back to the positions they held before the outbreak of rioting two weeks ago, that they would stop encircling Palestinian towns with tanks and that they would agree to the setting up of an international inquiry into the causes of the conflict.

The Palestinians are not trying to ensure that these objectives, especially the setting up an inquiry commission, will be achieved at the summit itself. With the Palestinian public extremely pessimistic about the outcome of the summit, Mr. Arafat is taking a risk in attending although the calls for a cease-fire have come from all around the globe.

So far, the U.S. has indicated that it wants both the leaders to subscribe to a summit declaration abjuring violence. They are also trying to get the Palestinians to agree to a U.S.- led probe into the causes of the violence. Even when the rioting was at its peak, the CIA Director General, Mr. George Tenet, had worked with Palestinian and Israeli security chiefs to bring about security co-ordination. It is not clear whether the U.S. proposals for the summit envisage the same sort of arrangement for the inquiry or whether they are prepared to make it a broader inquiry body that will also include investigators from other countries. It would appear that the other Palestinian demands can be met more easily.

At one stage, Mr. Barak had expressed the view that the summit would be useful only if it addressed issues beyond the immediate conflict. He had wanted Mr. Arafat to agree to discuss the substantive issues still in dispute on the basis of the bridging proposals put forward by the U.S. to close the gaps remaining after the Camp David talks. Apparently, such an expanded agenda is not on the cards with other Arab leaders advising Mr. Clinton that a cooling off period is necessary.

An inquiry into the causes of the disturbances might not have been necessary if the Israeli Government and media had not repeatedly held Mr. Arafat personally responsible over the last two weeks. The U.N. Security Council has, after all, found that a provocative act (by Israel's Opposition leader, Mr. Ariel Sharon, even though he was not named) had set off the rioting and had condemned the use of excessive force (by Israel). But the Palestinians now insist on an impartial inquiry since they believe that Mr. Arafat must be exonerated of the charge that he had orchestrated the disturbances. This is an extremely grave charge since it implies that Mr. Arafat sent teenagers and children to the frontlines.

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Section  : International
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