March 1992, Page 20

What Moscow Regional Middle East Peace Talks Accomplished

For 44 years some Middle East protagonists were in no hurry to sit down together for a Middle East peace conference. When the two-day regional talks in Moscow ended Jan. 29, however, only three months after the opening Madrid session and less than two weeks after the second bilateral sessions in Washington, some of the same protagonists expressed impatience that more progress had not already been achieved. Twenty-two national delegations participated at Moscow, among them Israel and some Arab states still technically at war with each other. The 10 participating Arab states were Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Two others, Algeria and Yemen, accepted the invitation but did not appear. The United Arab Emirates daily Gulf Times wrote Jan. 28: "What is happening today in Moscow is a demonstration of the global community's commitment to peace in the Middle East, not a pandering to Israeli greed. What the nations attending today's talks are recognizing is not Israel as it is now, but Israel as it could be, if it bows to international law and practice." Palestinian delegates arrived but declined to participate as a part of the Jordanian delegation when Israel objected to inclusion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the Palestinian diaspora. U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said there was "merit" to the Palestinian complaint that those excluded represented two-thirds of the Palestinian people. He indicated the U.S. would seek a compromise that would allow Palestinians in the categories excluded at Moscow to join specialized working groups scheduled to meet on regional problems in April and May. Working group meetings on economic development are to be held in Belgium, on the environment in Japan, on arms control and regional security in Washington, on refugees in Canada and on water resources in Turkey or Austria. The next bilateral Middle East peace talks were scheduled for Feb. 24 in Washington, DC.