Arab News

CAIRO, 30 June 2003 — Egypt for the last year has played a low-profile role in trying to broker a deal among Palestinian factions to suspend their attacks against Israel and give moribund peace negotiations a new lease on life.

“Egypt’s goal is to allow the region to return to normalcy .... and this truce should be met with a similar measure from the other (Israeli) side,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said after two of the Palestinian factions announced a truce.

Maher kept mum about Egypt’s role in the new truce, though Palestinian sources said a number of Palestinian representatives have been in Cairo discussing the cease-fire.

Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has long sought to promote a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace — efforts that have been derailed by 33 months of bloodshed. Since the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2001, Egypt has sought ways to defuse the violence and revive peace talks while also clashing with Israeli governments it charges have been provocative and used excessive force.

Egypt’s mediation efforts have been led by its intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, who has shuttled between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah, meeting both Israeli and Palestinians leaders.

Suleiman was reported to have met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but always remained silent after his meetings.

An Egyptian initiative to broker a halt to Palestinian attacks on Israel failed in January when a dozen Palestinian groups rejected the call at meetings in Cairo.

Since November, Egypt had hosted a number of closed-door meetings among Palestinian Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as secular factions.

The United States and its ally Israel have also sought Egyptian help in brokering a truce, demanding in particular a halt to suicide bombings. However, Egypt, a key Arab ally of the Palestinians, has in turn demanded a halt to Israel’s assassinations of Palestinian leaders in strikes which have also killed many civilians.

The push for a truce gained momentum when new Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas issued a call to end armed operations against Israel, during his June 4 speech at an Israeli-Palestinian-US summit in Aqaba, Jordan aimed at giving a US-backed peace “roadmap” a chance.

Suleiman has also played a key role in trying to revive broader peace efforts. In April, he traveled to the Palestinian territories and obtained a last-minute compromise between Arafat and his prime minister designate that allowed Abbas to form a government.