Breakthrough for Linowitz, bitterness from Arafat
Not a bad start for a new boy. In his second tour of the Middle East since he was named President Carter's special envoy three months ago, U.S. Ambassador Sol Linowitz last week managed at least a minor breakthrough in the stalled talks between Egypt and Israel on autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza. With only four months left before expiration of the May deadline for a Palestinian autonomy plan, which Cairo and Jerusalem accepted in principle at Camp David, the Carter Administration has been anxious to speed up the pace of the negotiations. Reason: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates regard the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as a more troublesome source of Middle East instability than Soviet expansionism.
In discussions with Linowitz at the Israeli resort of Herzlia, Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil and Israel's Interior Minister Yosef Burg agreed on a number of low-level categories of responsibility that will eventually be exercised by a self-governing council representing Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories. Linowitz happily declared that "very significant progress" had been made in the negotiations. Nonetheless, Egypt and Israel remain far apart on many key issues. Among them: security, control of land and water, and the status of East Jerusalem.
Moscow was also making its presence felt in the area. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko flew to Damascus to shore up relations with Syrian President Hafez Assad, who could use the Kremlin's help to cope with his troubles. Assad's nine-year-old regime, dominated by the minority Alawite sect, has been challenged for its repression and corruption by rightist Muslims; relations with neighboring Iraq have deteriorated, and Syria was the only major Arab state that stayed away from the Islamabad summit.
Gromyko also conferred with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, who remains bitterly disappointed that the U.S. will not negotiate with him and angry that Israel will not agree to creation of a Palestinian state. There have been few incidents lately of P.L.O. terrorism; some observers think this is because Arafat hopes to play a more constructive role in the Middle East and have the P.L.O. recognized by a grateful Washington. Arafat's organization has been recognized by some 110 nations, and its $1 million-a-day budget is increasingly backed by contributions from individual Arabs and wealthy Palestinians, decreasing its financial dependency on Arab petrol powers. Last week, at his headquarters in Beirut, Arafat discussed these and other matters with Chief of Correspondents Richard L. Duncan and TIME'S Abu Said Abu Rish. Excerpts from the interview:
On the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:
"I think you should not have been so surprised. Events have been coming toward this for years. Now the U.S. wants to use this occasion to rally the Muslim world against the Soviet Union. And yes, you have done it. You and him [gesturing toward a picture of Ayatullah Khomeini]. But the Muslim world is most concerned about Palestine and Jerusalem and you must remember that."