EZEKIEL CHAPTERS 38 & 39 DRAW CLOSER TO THEIR FULFILLMENT WITH GOG & MAGOG
Arafat asks Putin to aid
in Mideast peace talks
By Dave Montgomery
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Saturday, August 12, 2000
MOSCOW -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Friday that he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to take an active role in Middle East peace negotiations and to arrange a meeting that would include Russian, Egyptian and French diplomats as well as Israelis, Palestinians and Americans.
Arafat met with Putin on Friday in the Kremlin as part of an international tour -- he has visited 15 countries in 18 days -- to seek support for creating a Palestinian nation, which he has pledged to declare by Sept. 13. U.S.-sponsored talks between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak last month at Camp David, Md., failed to cement a peace deal, and Arafat immediately set about trying to gain international support for his side.
The Palestinian leader has been unable to win international backing for a unilateral proclamation of Palestinian statehood in the event a peace treaty is not concluded by the deadline.
Arafat adviser Nabil Amr said many countries empathize with Arafat but are unwilling to defy Washington. "No one can ignore that many countries have strong relations with the United States, and they don't want these relations to be affected," he said.
During Arafat's tour, including stops in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, he was told by many heads of state that he "should wait and give a chance for peace to move forward," Amr said.
Some analysts say Arafat's entreaties to Putin are an attempt to balance what Palestinians see as American domination of the peace talks and U.S. bias toward Israel. Palestinians were angry over what they saw as American attempts to pressure Arafat into accepting something less than full sovereignty over Muslim holy sites in east Jerusalem. They think Russia would be more sympathetic to the Palestinians' position.
"Undoubtedly we are interested in Russia's increased activity in this direction," Arafat said at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov after the meeting with Putin. "This is why we asked it to step up its work at all levels."
Arafat said he asked Putin to organize a meeting that would bring in countries that traditionally have been friendlier to Palestinian interests. Arafat did not specify when such a meeting would be or even if Putin has consented to organize it.
However, Ivanov said Putin is eager to increase Russia's role in the Middle East and has ordered diplomats to "step up work on the Palestinian-Israeli track." Ivanov said the diplomats soon will meet with representatives of several countries and present Russia's own proposals for resolving the conflict.
Russia, along with the United States and the European Union, is a co-sponsor of Middle East negotiations, but its influence has waned dramatically in the post-Soviet era. The Soviet Union enjoyed close ties with the Arab world, but Russia has become friendlier with Israel in recent years.
Still, Arafat apparently thinks Russia would serve as a counterbalance to the United States.
"He (Arafat) wants allies like Russia . . . to try to convince the United States and Israel that Palestinians deserve a more generous settlement than the one that Israel has offered so far," said Helena Cobban, an author of books on Middle East diplomacy. "The Palestinians were very frustrated that the Clinton administration came out blaming their side and only their side for the breakdown of the talks."
For his part, Putin, who has made several foreign policy initiatives since his inauguration as president in May, is eager to revive Russian participation in the Middle East as a conduit for reasserting his nation's influence around the world, analysts said.
Yet as Putin steps into the Middle East quagmire, he seems intent on a balanced approach. He talked with Barak by telephone before Arafat's arrival Thursday, promising Russia's help in reaching a settlement. While assuring Arafat of his support for a Palestinian nation, Putin encouraged him to keep talking to the Israelis.
This article includes material from The Associated Press.
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