Delays in Mideast Peace Cloud Economic Forum

CAIRO —  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak omitted any mention of Israel in his opening speech, Secretary of State Warren Christopher noted that the peace process has been “tested severely” lately, and Palestinians attending urged fellow Arabs to pressure the Israeli government.

Under a cloud of gloom brought on by the slowdown in the Arab-Israeli peace process and the failure of a last-minute diplomatic push to settle the issue of an Israeli troop withdrawal from the West Bank city of Hebron, the third annual Middle East economic conference got underway here Tuesday.

Absent from the meeting were the high hopes and bold visions of Arab-Israeli cooperation that accompanied the two previous meetings--in Casablanca, Morocco, and Amman, Jordan.

But some observers Tuesday did point to a silver lining: Even if most political leaders in the Middle East stayed away, more business executives came this time than ever before.

The underlying theme of the gathering--which organizers from the World Economic Forum said has attracted about 1,500 business leaders from more than 60 countries--is that peace and prosperity go together in the Middle East and that either helps bring about the other.

“The only common enemies we have--Muslim, Christian and Jew alike--are poverty, ignorance, intolerance and a shortsighted grasp of our future,” said Mubarak, challenging conference participants to help build “a peace that is just” and “prosperity that is for all.”

Hopes failed to materialize that Israel and the Palestinians would reach an agreement on a partial Israeli pullback from Hebron before the three-day conference, despite a flurry of meetings by Christopher and European Union diplomats with representatives of both sides.

Although U.S. officials said progress was made in the last-minute round of consultations, key differences remained.

Christopher met with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy. In his speech, he told delegates that a Hebron accord is “close at hand.” He later told reporters that both sides have committed themselves to “go beyond Hebron” and keep negotiating other issues after a Hebron agreement finally is reached.

Palestinians had feared that even if they got a Hebron accord out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the Israelis then would not fulfill promises to pull out of other areas of the West Bank or proceed with serious talks on the status of Jerusalem or on creating a Palestinian state.

“I think it’s been a pretty good 24 hours,” said Nicholas Burns, Christopher’s spokesman. “Remain very positive” about Hebron, he advised. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Although Christopher--who has made numerous trips to the region--has said he plans to leave his post soon, he told delegates that peace in the Middle East will remain a top U.S. foreign policy objective in President Clinton’s second term.

On what is probably his last mission to the Middle East as secretary of state, Christopher said he looks with pride on the administration’s accomplishments in the last four years, during which Israel signed two major agreements with the Palestinians and completed a peace treaty with Jordan.

“I don’t gainsay the fact that there’s lots of work to be done, but there has been a major transformation,” he said. “To see that Israel is no longer isolated in the way that it was before is really impressive.”

There were signs of tension surrounding the Israeli presence at the conference, including at least one anti-Israel street demonstration in downtown Cairo that was dispersed by police.

The only speaker at the opening session to be interrupted by applause was Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring, president of the European Union Council of Ministers, who, in a remark that seemed directed at Israel, called for a “return to the spirit of Madrid” (where a 1991 conference launched the current peace process) and for peace based on the principle of land for peace.

Many Arab delegates said they would avoid the large Israeli delegation and focus on contacts with companies from Europe, the United States or other Arab countries. Egyptian newspapers reported Tuesday that an Israeli employee of one of the few Israeli-Egyptian joint ventures already established in Egypt had been arrested on suspicion of spying.

Levy termed the arrest of Azam Azam, an Israeli Druze from Galilee, unjustified, saying: “We will not rest until we see him return to his family, country and homeland.”

The reports said Azam was arrested last Wednesday outside his hotel after an Egyptian confessed to having been hired by him to gather information on military weapons and troop movements.

Besides Levy, Israel’s delegation includes Finance Minister Dan Meridor, Industry Minister Natan Sharansky, Communications Minister Limor Livnat and Transport Minister Yitzhak Levy, along with about 100 business executives, 50 government officials and 30 journalists.