Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991 TAG: 9104090598
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: The Associated Press
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
Secretary of State James Baker responded positively to the initiative presented to him by Foreign Minister David Levy. And yet, Baker said he wanted to talk to Arab leaders before committing the U.S. government to the proposition.
If the Arabs agree to the Israeli initiative, Baker's Mideast diplomacy could achieve a significant breakthrough, even though the outcome of negotiations would be uncertain.
"We have had a productive and very constructive meeting," Baker said after the hour-long session with Levy.
Baker then met for 2 1/2 hours with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who had set a positive tone for Baker's stop in Israel by announcing some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released this weekend.
They said nothing afterward. But Avi Pazner, the prime minister's press counselor, said the two would meet again before Baker goes to Cairo.
"I think the talks were good, " Pazner said. "I think the fact that they are continuing to talk is a sign there is something to talk about."
Baker then sat down with a delegation of six Palestinian leaders, all of them supporters of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Baker will meet with Egyptian, Saudi, Syrian and Jordanian officials this week, and Israeli sources said he may return to Jerusalem before going home to report to President Bush.
Israel has objected all along to an international peace conference on the grounds the Soviet Union was likely to side with the Arabs and corner Israel with unacceptable terms.
Levy underscored that his government would agree to a regional conference with Soviet participation only if it produces direct negotiations with the Arab governments. He made no mention of the Palestinians, except to reaffirm a 1989 Shamir plan to hold elections on the West Bank and in Gaza leading to limited self-rule.
Under these circumstances, Levy said, "Israel would not object to the participation of the Soviet Union."
The Arabs, with support from Bush, are demanding that Israel give up territory in exchange for peace. Shamir, however, insists on holding onto the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel took in 1967.
Shamir said he had detected "positive signs by the Arabs" that could lead to relations with Israel.
In addition to the prisoner release, Defense Minister Moshe Arens promised tax incentives to encourage industrial investment in the Gaza Strip. A government statement said further steps were under consideration to improve living conditions for the 1.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
A statement prepared by the Palestinians for presentation to Baker called on the United States to reopen its dialogue with the PLO and to pressure Israel to end practices that it described as "an active negative response to all peace initiatives."
Israel considers the PLO to be a terrorist organization and refuses to negotiate with it. It opposes Palestinian statehood and calls, instead, for limited autonomy for the Arabs in the occupied lands.
In other developments in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War:
Before starting this round of Mideast peace talks, Baker inspected a refugee camp along Iraq's border with Turkey. The Bush administration is said to be ready to help Turkey cope with the heavy economic burden of taking in the Kurds and others.
The European Community is backing a British proposal urging the United Nations to create a haven in northern Iraq for the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing the wrath of Iraq's army.
Saadoun Hammadi, Iraq's prime minister, said the plan was "a suspect proposal and Iraq will oppose it by all means."
Kurdish rebels say forces of Saddam Hussein have massacred an entire village and are strafing refugees from helicopter gunships. They call it a government terror campaign aimed at driving the Kurds from the country.
Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, charges that Iraqi troops murdered all of the 2,000 to 3,000 people who had populated Kara Henjir, a village near the key northern oil center city of Kirkuk.
About 200 Kurdish demonstrators on Monday attacked with stones and fire bombs the heavily guarded Iraqi Embassy in Ottawa, Canada. Several windows were smashed. No one was injured, police said. The demonstrators also went across the street to the U.S. Embassy and shouted slogans condemning Bush.
Kuwaiti officials say trials could begin within weeks for some of the 628 people held in Kuwait on suspicion of war crimes or collaboration with the Iraqi occupation forces. Some are described as high-ranking Iraqis but most are Palestinians and other foreign residents of Kuwait.
by CNB