Military

DATE=10/16/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268001

TITLE=CLINTON / MIDEAST (L)

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Clinton -- at the emergency Middle East summit in Egypt -- has called on Israel and the Palestinians to move beyond casting blame for the latest turmoil and take specific steps to defuse the crisis. He is warning that the peace process and Middle East security could be in jeopardy if the summit fails. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the Egyptian town of Sharm El-Sheikh on Red Sea.

TEXT: The President has seen more than seven years of work on the Middle East peace process literally go up in flames in the past two-and-one-half weeks. And in a somber message at the opening meeting, a grim-faced Mr. Clinton said the future of Middle East peace and security could be riding on what happens at the hastily-convened summit:

/// CLINTON ACTUALITY 1 ///

The future of the peoples involved here, the future of the peace process and the stability of the region are at stake. We cannot afford to fail here. In order to succeed though, once again we have a situation piled high with grievance. We have got to move beyond blame.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Clinton said there should be an end to the violence, a restoration of security cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians, and after those goals are achieved, a resumption of the peace process.

More specifically, he urged agreement on an objective and fair fact-finding process on the origins of the latest outbreak and how to prevent future occurrences. He called for balanced, mutual disengagement by the two sides and other confidence-building measures to restore trust.

In urging an honest and blunt dialogue by the parties, he said they should not lose sight of how far the sides have come in negotiations since the Oslo accords began the peace process in 1993:

/// CLINTON ACTUALITY 2 ///

We shouldn't give it all up for what has happened in the last few weeks. And what has happened in these last few weeks reminds us of the terrible alternative to continuing to live in peace and to continuing the peace process.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Clinton had brief separate meetings before the plenary with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as well as bilateral sessions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah, and U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan.

U-S officials said they expected the remainder of the summit to be a mix of bilateral and group meetings though it was not clear if the Palestinian and Israeli leaders would have their own private meeting. A spokesman said Mr. Clinton intended to leave for home late Monday but did not rule out a possible second day of meetings.

The President is committed to being back in the United States Wednesday morning to attend a memorial observance in Virginia for the navy personnel killed in last week's terrorist attack on the destroyer U-S-S Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. (Signed)

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