Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT LENGTH: Medium
But the trip - the most extensive presidential tour of the Middle East in 20 years - holds potential dangers, both physical and political.
Security for the presidential visit is extremely tight, following threats of terrorist activity and the bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel, last Wednesday that killed 23 people.
This morning, Clinton is to attend the signing of the historic peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. The event will take place at a desert border crossing north of the Red Sea.
The signing, to be witnessed by President Clinton and 5,000 guests, is taking place on a hastily asphalted former minefield - an apt metaphor for an uncertain future.
``I am going to the Middle East to deliver one clear message: The United States stands by those who, in the words of the Psalms, `seek peace and pursue it,''' Clinton said in a Rose Garden ceremony before leaving Washington for Cairo, his first stop.
``And we will stand up to those who threaten to destroy the dream of peace that has brought us to this historic moment.''
Israelis this week have rounded up dozens of Islamic militants, fearing terrorist attacks during Clinton's visit. Hamas, the militant terrorist group, has said it would attack again if its leaders were harmed.
``For all the progress toward peace - indeed, because of that progress - we have witnessed a new wave of violence and terrorism,'' said Clinton, who is being accompanied by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, through the peace signing.
``No step on this long journey requires more patience, discipline and courage than the steps that are yet to come,'' he said.
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat is boycotting the treaty signing because he is angry that Jordan's King Hussein, and not Arafat, will be the guardian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites.
Arafat has said the Israeli-Jordanian pact is an ``outrageous infringement'' of the Israeli-PLO treaty, which calls for final negotiations on the control of Jerusalem.
``Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state,'' Arafat told 2,000 cheering students Tuesday in the Gaza Strip. ``Those who don't like it can drink from the Sea of Gaza.''
Arafat is to meet Clinton today when the president visits Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Qubba Palace to review progress in the peace negotiations and Egypt's role.
Arafat is expected to press Clinton to follow through on a pledge of $2.5 billion over five years from the international community.
Clinton, meanwhile, will deliver ``a very firm message'' to Arafat that there needs to be a ``concerted effort to thwart and throttle'' terrorists threatening to disrupt the peace process, according to Mike McCurry, the State Department spokesman.
``The president will indicate to Arafat that the United States is doing everything it can to crack down on terrorism, and then he will turn to Arafat and say, `What more can you do?''' McCurry said.
Clinton is under some pressure on this trip to produce a breakthrough in the slow-moving Israeli-Syrian peace process. The president plans to meet Thursday with President Hafez Assad of Syria, where Clinton will talk about terrorism and making peace with Israel. Syria remains on the U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism, and some Jewish organizations are protesting Clinton's visit.
Clinton's first stop after his 1 a.m. arrival in Cairo was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Tomb of Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president who was assassinated in October 1981, largely because he signed a peace treaty with Israel.
by CNB