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DATE=10/14/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SUMMIT PREVIEW (L-only)

NUMBER=2-267943

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT=

INTRO: U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan warned the Middle East summit scheduled for Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh could "not afford to fail," as he met with Egyptian officials hosting the talks. Palestinian and Israeli leaders agreed to the meeting with Mr. Annan, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.S. President Bill Clinton to end 17 days of violence. Dale Gavlak reports from Cairo.

TEXT: Mr. Annan called the summit a unique opportunity and a grave responsibility after meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa to discuss the summit preparations in Sharm el Sheikh. He said a minimum goal for the meeting would be a cease-fire before and during the summit, leading to a permanent truce, so that negotiations on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal could resume.

Mr. Moussa said the Egyptians aimed to have the Palestinians and Israelis sit down and talk out their problems instead of fighting them out.

//MOUSSA ACT//

We want to sit and see what developed and how it developed in that direction. But we cannot sit tight and let what's going on in the occupied territories continue.

//END MOUSSA ACT//

Egypt's top diplomat said bloody clashes between the Palestinians and Israelis were a big blow to the peace process and to stability in the Middle East. He emphasized that the violence must cease.

//MOUSSA ACT//

We have to stop it in a way that will bring together the parties concerned and get the necessary committments from them and from the others that the peace process will continue and resume within a framework that has to be ironclad; that is, international legitmacy.

//END MOUSSA ACT//

Many observers believe that Monday's gathering, however, will not lead to a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Two weeks of deadly clashes have sharply eroded trust. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have said that they would find it difficult to return to the negotiations. They have not, however, formally abandoning peace efforts.

Although both sides have called for an end to the aggression, the solution to restoring calm has so far eluded them. As the Palestinians and Israelis head into the summit they are far apart on some key points.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said that his side's pre-conditions for a meeting have now become the issues under negotitation at Sharm el Sheikh. He said the Palestinians want Israel to stop its military attacks against Palestinian civilians, lift is seige and agree to an international inquiry into the cause of the violent clashes.

He added that the Palestinians want a guarantee from the international community that Israel will not be able to carry out the same kind of tough military response again.

But Israel has sharply rejected calls for an international probe into the causes of the flare-up in violence that has claimed some 100, mainly Palestinian lives. Israeli government spokesman Nachman Shai said Israel wants the summit to agree on "operational steps." That translates into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat taking steps to end violence and setting up a "mechanism" to implement the measures.

Relations between the two sides have been so strained that Mr.Arafat and Mr. Barak have asked international mediators, including the U-N Secretary General and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to carry messages back and forth.

The Mideast observers say getting the two sides to sit at a table across from each other is one feat Sharm el Sheikh aims to accomplish. But Ending the violence and death may prove to be more arduous. (Signed)

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