Egyptian Envoy Pledges Palestinian Support
Associated Press
Date: 08-30-05
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A senior Egyptian envoy told the Palestinian parliament Tuesday that Egypt will not rest until the Palestinians have established a state on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War.
The envoy, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, spoke in the name of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and used particularly strong language to support the Palestinians.
"It's time to see the suffering ended, to see the prisoners released and to see the Palestinian territories living in security and prosperity," Suleiman said.
Suleiman is in Gaza to discuss arrangements after Israel's pullout. Last week, Israel evicted residents from all 21 Gaza settlements and is expected to turn over control of the whole territory to the Palestinians in mid-September. Issues still to be finalized include the crucial matter of border crossings between Gaza and the rest of the world.
In his speech to the Palestinian parliament session in Gaza city, Suleiman looked past the Gaza phase to a full-fledged Palestinian state.
Suleiman said the borders of a state should include the West Bank and Gaza, but he did not specifically mention east Jerusalem, which was also captured by Israel in 1967 and is claimed by the Palestinians as a future capital.
However, he said Egypt supports a full Israeli withdrawal "and the full end of occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the land of 1967."
Egypt and the Palestinians have had a historically rocky relationship dating back to the time Egypt controlled Gaza from 1948 until 1967. Ties were further strained when Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel more than two decades ago. However, support for the Palestinians is strong among Egyptians, who go to the polls Sept. 7 in the country's first contested presidential election.
Suleiman, a key mediator, discussed border issues with Palestinian officials and was to meet Israeli leaders Wednesday.
An agreement on supervising cross-border travel is crucial to Palestinian efforts to revive Gaza's economy and bring stability to the impoverished coastal region.
The Palestinians insist Israel relinquish control over the flow of goods and people across the border when it hands control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority in the coming weeks.
Israel wants assurances that Gaza militants won't smuggle in weapons for future attacks and has proposed moving the crossing to a point where the Gaza, Egyptian and Israeli borders meet so it can continue to oversee it.
The Palestinians want the border crossing to remain inside Gaza with third-party monitors, probably from Europe, stationed there and expect any agreement to set a precedent for arrangements at Gaza's airport and seaport, when they eventually open.
Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath said Israel had proposed having Israeli inspectors check traffic into Gaza for another six months, buying time for further negotiations, but the Palestinians rejected that arrangement.
"We consider any Israeli supervision for six months to be a lasting supervision that will not end," he said.
Suleiman was also working to bolster a 6-month-old cease-fire ? which was shaken by recent violence ? meeting Tuesday with the leaders of the Palestinian groups Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
"We want the truce from our side," said Abdullah Franji, the top Fatah leader in Gaza after meeting with Suleiman. "It is in the interest of the Palestinian people to continue with the truce."
But Franji charged that Israel was undermining the cease-fire by expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and building a West Bank separation barrier on Palestinian land.
Israel has demanded that the Palestinians crack down on violent groups and disarm them, according to terms of the internationally backed "road map" peace plan.
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