P.L.O., Israelis skirmish over peace talks

Press, 20 December 1988, Page 8

P.L.O., Israelis skirmish over peace talks

NZPA-Reuter , ._ C f? ro The P.L.O. leader, Yasser Arafat, and Israelis have skirmished over whether they should talk to each other as Mr Arafat prepared to campaign in Europe for Middle-East peace negotiations under an international umbrella.

After talks on Sunday night with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman urged Israeli leaders to join him in peace talks sponsored by the United Nations. The P.L.O. would continue its dialogue with the United States, which started in Tunis last Friday, until an international peace conference was held, he said. Then it would talk with Israel. “Of course we will negotiate with our enemies,” he said. “We will make peace with our enemies.” The Israeli Foreign

Minister, Shimon Peres, in a television interview in the United States, said he was prepared to talk peace “with every Palestinian who is not engaged in terror.” But he said it was premature to conclude that Mr Arafat qualified, despite his pledges in Geneva last week to renounce terrorism, recognise Israel’s right to exist and accept key United Nation resolutions on the Middle-East. “Israel must put the Arafat declarations to test,” Mr Peres said. Mr Arafat was scheduled to head for

Vienna yesterday for talks with Austrian leaders before going on to other European capitals later. Mr Mubarak, who heads the only Arab State to have made peace with Israel, backed the P.L.O. leader in urging Israel to take part in an international conference, which most Arab and European countries see as the best framework for negotiating a Middle-East settlement. Israel has called for direct talks with Arab States and rejects the idea of a conference, which it says will be aimed at forcing it to give up the

West Bank and Gaza Strip, occupied since 1967. “The Israeli position is unclear these days,” Mr Mubarak said. “Israel wanted to talk to any Arab party in the past. When the P.L.O. now says it is ready to start a dialogue, Israel says no. This is a very strange position.” A British Minister visiting Egypt, William Waldegrave, said he wowuld not be surprised if Mr Arafat proposed a meeting with leaders of the 12 European Community countries, though he had not yet done so. P.L.O. officials have

said Mr Arafat wants to meet the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and French President, Francois Mitterrand.

Mr Waldegrave, junior Foreign Officer Minister, said it would be “some months, even on an optimistic scenario, before we get down to people sitting round a table and negotiating.”

While a new United States Administration settled in, Arab and European leaders should work on issues that would form part of an eventual settlement, such as the status of Jerusalem, he said.