Syria's nod to Israel's new leader alarms Arafat

GAZA -- Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat returned from a brief meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday where he discussed his fears that Israel might focus Middle East peace efforts on talks with Damascus.

PA sources said the Syrian initiative to prepare for talks with Israel has alarmed Arafat. They said much of his talks on Thursday morning in Cairo focused on Mubarak's meetings next week in Washington with President Bill Clinton and senior aides. Mubarak leaves for the United States on Saturday.

On his return from Cairo, Arafat said he hoped that Israel would continue the peace process and honor the agreements Israel signed at Wye River in October. The accords stipulated among other things that Israel hand over 18.1 percent of the West Bank to full or partial Palestinian control.

"The visit was very important," Arafat said. "We exchanged views on the president's visit to the United States and on the Middle East peace process."

Arafat, PA sources said, was alarmed by what he regards as Assad's efforts to launch talks with Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak on the future of the Golan Heights. The sources said Arafat is worried that Barak might decide to shelve peace efforts with the Palestinians to focus on the Syrian track.

The sources said Arafat and Mubarak agreed that the Egyptian president would urge his U.S. counterpart, Bill Clinton, not to allow Assad to shelve the Palestinian issue.

Assad has opposed Arab efforts to convene a summit to discuss strategy in the wake of Barak's election. Arab diplomats said Assad still has not forgiven Arafat for signing the 1993 interim accords with Israel.

On Wednesday, the London-based Al Hayat quoted Assad as praising Barak and expressing hope that the prime minister-elect will begin talks with Syria. PA sources said the interview as well as the Israeli welcome of Assad's praise of Barak dominated informal talks between senior Palestinian officials and their U.S. counterparts in Ramallah. Arafat met with U.S. delegation on Wednesday night.

PA officials are also concerned that Bark will form a coalition government with the outgoing Likud right-wing party. They said their fear is that a Barak partnership with Likud chairman Ariel Sharon would essentially continue the policies of the outgoing government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"The basic problem is the Sharon influence on the new government on such issues as settlements and a Palestinian state," PLO official Faisal Husseini told reporters in Tel Aviv after a speech to an Israeli audience.

Arafat's adviser, Nabil Abu Rudeineh told PA radio that Barak has no right to use coalition efforts to scrap or delay any of the interim agreements with the Palestinians. He said the agreements, such as the one signed in October in Wye River, commits any future government in Israel.

For his part, Arafat told reporters that although Barak must honor Israeli commitments the PA chairman did not want to intervene in coalition efforts. He said he hoped Barak would follow the footsteps of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In Ramallah, the political committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council issued a communique that called on Barak to implement the interim accords and halt Jewish settlement construction. The committee met to discuss the aftermath of the Barak election.