Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 11, 1991 TAG: 9103110139
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
American and Arab officials portrayed as a watershed event the Former POWs welcomed on U.S. return. A10 fact that the Arab countries - in particular the traditionally anti-American Syria - were backing an American plan for stabilizing the Middle East that will include the presence of American naval forces and occasional visits of American ground troops.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar, alluding to what appears to be a new, powerful, moderate Arab coalition, said after a meeting between Secretary of State James Baker and Arab foreign ministers: "You should not minimize the meaning of this."
The endorsement of Bush's plan meant that the Arab countries agreed that the American military presence in the gulf region, now being reduced, would continue to be larger than it was before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2,
But despite this broad agreement, the first high-level conference between the United States and its Arab allies since the gulf war revealed that the Arab ministers clearly differed with Baker on one very important detail: how to make peace with Israel.
If public statements from the Riyadh meeting are any indication, the gulf war does not yet appear to have in any way reshaped the Arab consensus on how to deal with Israel.
The Arab ministers said they shared Bush's desire to address the Arab-Israeli dispute, but they reaffirmed their traditional stand that they would deal with Israel only through an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations.
Baker, by contrast, said an international conference would not be appropriate at this time. Privately, American officials describe such a conference as a "total non-starter," since Israel, which insists on direct talks, would never attend.
Baker emphasized that he spoke with each of the Arab officials about their taking new confidence-building steps to ease tensions with Israel, in return for parallel steps from the Israelis. He argued, after the meeting, that until he had had a chance to speak with the Israeli government today, to see what it is prepared to do, and then convey that to the Arabs, it would be premature to declare that nothing is new or possible.
"It is not surprising," said Baker, "that you don't have Arab governments coming out and unilaterally making statements about the steps they might be willing to take."
In their final statement, the Arab ministers endorsed the four-point approach outlined by Bush in his address to a joint session of Congress last Wednesday. In that speech, Bush called for an expanded American naval presence in the Persian Gulf, as well as continuing "American participation in joint exercises" with Arab gulf countries "involving both air and ground forces."
In addition, the Bush plan calls for arms-control agreements to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction, economic development programs to bridge differences between the Arab haves and have-nots, and a renewed effort to open talks among Israel and the Arab countries and Israel and the Palestinians. The talks would be based on the principle of trading Israeli-occupied Arab lands for peace treaties between the Arab countries and Israel.
by CNB