The US proposals on a framework agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis caused heated arguments between Syrian foreign minister and his Egyptian counterpart in a closed meeting last week in Tunis, reported the Daily Star newspaper, quoting Lebanese foreign ministry sources as saying Sunday.
The foreign ministers' committee, which met in Tunis last week, was set up by the emergency Arab summit held in October to support the Palestinian Intifada.
The sources said that the closed meeting, held Wednesday, was confined to the nine foreign ministers and excluded delegation members.
It was the second meeting after the opening session and, contrary to normal procedure, the deliberations were not officially recorded.
According to the sources, Syrian foreign minister Farouq Shara and Egypt's foreign minister Amr Moussa had a heated argument over peace proposals presented by the United States.
Shara strongly criticized the "rush" toward President Clinton's proposals, calling them a violation of the 1991 Madrid agreement and United Nations resolutions, said the sources.
"He [Shara] said the proposals were an attempt to create new principles for the Middle East peace process that would not lead to a just and comprehensive peace in the region."
Moussa, on the other hand, contended that current peace moves were designed to reach an agreement that would support Israeli Premier Ehud Barak's re-election versus bringing in right-wing leader Ariel Sharon into power, according to the sources.
Sharon's election would undermine the peace process, Moussa said.
The sources said Shara's stand was backed by the majority of ministers, the paper said.
Moussa affirmed that his country supported the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland and without this right there could be no peace.
The tense atmosphere, which Tunisia's efforts failed to ease, resulted in the final communiqué issued by the committee excluding any reference to the American proposals, and containing an indirect criticism of the ideas by stressing adherence to the Madrid agreement.
Palestinian President attended the meeting, and later held talks with Tunisian President Zein al-Abideen Ben Ali.
Meanwhile, Jordan will host the next Arab summit on March 27th. The summit will mainly tackle the Palestinian Intifada and ways of reviving the peace process in the Middle East -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
