Egypt rejects Clinton's call to press Arafat to sign

CAIRO -- Egypt has rejected U.S. appeals to press Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to modify his position on Jerusalem to facilitiate a peace agreement with Israel.

Egyptian diplomatic sources acknowledge that the Clinton administration wants President Hosni Mubarak to give Arafat the green light to make concessions to Israel that would allow an agreement on Jerusalem. But the sources said Mubarak has refused.

"Are we supposed to pressure President Arafat to make concessions on Jerusalem? This is not our job," Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa said. "Concessions are needed from all parties within the framework of international legitimacy, not outside of it."

The sources said Washington has placed responsibility on the continuation of peace efforts on the Palestinians. The United States is said to be planning another peace summit in early September and Egyptian officials said Cairo will recognize a Palestinian state if it is declared on Sept. 13, regardless of a peace agreement with Israel.

U.S. officials said Mubarak has disappointed Clinton by urging Arafat not to compromise on Jerusalem. They said Clinton telephoned Mubarak during last month's Camp David summit and urged him to convince Arafat to sign an agreement on final status issues.

The government media in Egypt has termed Clinton as "biased and inconsistent with the role of honest broker." They blasted an article earlier this week in the New York Times in which commentator Thomas Friedman criticized Mubarak's refusal to pressure Arafat. Friedman said Egypt's refusal to help the peace process and Cairo's poor human rights record have hurt Egypt in Washington.

"Friedman appears to have donned the garb of a Jewish rabbi or of Nazi general," writes Mahfouz Al Ansari in the government Al Akhbar daily. "He tells that Egypt's friends in Congress now could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Turning to Jerusalem, Friedman, now clad in rabbi clothes, wants to invalidate Arab, Muslim and Christian claims to the Holy City to have it delivered lock, stock and barrel to Barak and the Jews."

Cairo has also refused to discuss the large holdings of Jewish property seized after the 1948 war of Israeli independence. The World Jewish Congress has asked the U.S. Congress to reassess Washington's $2.1 billion of annual aid to Cairo unless Egypt cooperates with the return of the property.

Egyptian diplomatic sources said Cairo is also making efforts to normalize relations between Syria and the Palestinians. The sources said Mubarak is trying to arrange a meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Arafat.