The Palestinians are going to call for an Arab summit on the future of Jerusalem, a senior Palestinian official said in Gaza Saturday.
"We want an Arab summit to be held ... as soon as possible in order to discuss the Palestinian track in the peace process and on Jerusalem," Tayeb Abdul Rahim, the secretary of the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, told AFP.
He added that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who is now on a tour that will take him to several Arab capitals, will call on leaders there for "support for Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem and the holding of an Arab summit to examine those points dealt with in the (Camp David) negotiations regarding Jerusalem."
Concretely, Abdul Rahim said that after his visit Saturday to France, Arafat will move on the Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco.
At a later date, he said, Arafat also plans to visit Russia, which is a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process.
Arafat already met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following the collapse earlier this week of the peace summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, stopping off in Egypt on his way home.
Abdul Rahim said the Palestinians support a call by Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa for an Arab summit to be held.
Referring to the failed summit, Abdul Rahim said "Camp David is only one phase and does not mark the end of the march toward peace."
In that context, he applauded the desire expressed by US President Bill Clinton Friday to push for an Israeli-Palestinian accord before the end of this year.
Underlining that talks set for Sunday between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators will deal with only interim questions, he called for returning "with the least possible delay to negotiations on the final settlement in order to be able to build on what was achieved at Camp David.” – GAZA CITY (AFP)
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