E.E.C. ‘more or less’ backs Sinai force

Press, 28 October 1981, Page 9

E.E.C. ‘more or less’ backs Sinai force

NZPA-Reuter Luxemburg The European Economic Community may give its support soon to the participation of four West European countries in a United Statesbacked peace-keeping force in the Sinai, E.E.C. sources have said. Yesterday, at a meeting of E.E.C. Foreign Ministers, Claude Cheysson of France said that the E.E.C. countries were ’’more or less” agreed on the proposal, and a senior diplomat said he hoped formal agreement would take a matter of days rather than weeks. Mr Cheysson told a news conference that refusal to take part would be “absolutely incoherent” and would prove that the Common Market was “nothing but a . talking shop.” France is one of the E.E.C. countries invited to send troops, along with Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Greece’s new Socialist Government, which is taking part for the first , time in an

E.E.C. meeting, came out strongly against the proposal. A Greek spokesman told reporters it would alienate Arab countries, but diplomatic sources said they hoped Greece could be convinced of the usefulness of the idea. Greece said last week it intended to give full diplomatic status to the Palestine Liberation Organisation mission in Athens. Diplomatic sources said the E.E.C. States were fully aware of the immense political significancee of.such a move and wanted to be quite sure of its implications for their Middle East peace drive before announcing it. They emphasised that any decision to join the force would be coupled with a reaffirmation of an E.E.C. commitment to bringing the P.L.O. into peace negotiations. The idea of a 2500-troop force to patrol the Sinai Peninsula when Israel com-

pletes its hand-over of the territory to Egypt next April 25 was launched by the United States some weeks ago. The proposal has been rejected by some hard-line Arab politicians and Syria announced its opposition yesterday.. But E.E.C. sources said there was a strong feeling in Europe that the move, coupled with pressure on the Israelis and the Palestinians to grant each other recognition, could be a powerful factor for peace in the region. Mr Cheysson said he believed that after the final Israeli withdrawal from Sinai the Camp David process would go no further and other routes to peace would have to be found. In this context, the eightpoint proposal for peace recently put forward by Saudi Arabia was “interesting,” he said.

Lord Carrington is due to visit Saudi Arabia next week to discuss the proposals,

which call for the establishment of a Palestinian State and have been widely interpreted as implying possible Arab recognition of Israel in return for this and other demands. In Jerusalem, Egyptian Foreign Minister (Mr Kamal Hassan Ali) will end a threeday visit to Israel today after agreeing to Israeli proposals to encourage tourism between the two countries. Yesterday, the Israeli Prime Minister (Mr Menachem Begin) said a new session of negotiations on Palestinian autonomy would convene next week in Cairo at Ministerial level, about two months ahead of schedule. The Ministers would concentrate on trying to reach agreement on an administrative Palestinian council to rule the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr Begin said Israel would react to this by withdrawing its forces to the security locations, laid down in the Camp David agreement.