Mideast peace process – Final communiqué of Arab leaders meeting in Cairo – Letter from Egypt

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL

Fifty-first session Fifty-second year

Agenda items 33 and 35

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

Letter dated 9 September 1997 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of

the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations addressed  

to the Secretary-General

I have the honour to enclose herewith the final communiqué that was issued at the end of a summit hosted by Egypt on 7 September 1997 between His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan, His Excellency President Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and His Excellency President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

I should be grateful if you would kindly circulate the present letter and its annex as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 33 and 35, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Soliman AWAAD     

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

ANNEX

[Original:  Arabic]

Final communiqué of the talks held in Cairo on 7 September 1997

by King Hussein Bin Talal, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and 

President Yasser Arafat

At the kind invitation of His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Majesty King Hussein Bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and President Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, met in Cairo on Sunday, 7 September 1997, in order to discuss the current situation in the Middle East region and the challenges facing the process of achieving a comprehensive and just peace.

The assembled leaders agreed that the situation currently obtaining in the region constituted a grave danger for all their peoples and presented a genuine threat to their vital interests in the present and for the future.  Concerted efforts are therefore required by all forces that believe in peace so as to thwart those hostile to peace and prepare on an urgent basis for the resumption of negotiations on all tracks in accordance with the terms of reference accepted by international consensus, approved by all the parties concerned without exception and based on the steps taken thus far with the blessing of the peoples of the region.  These terms of reference are epitomized in the relevant Security Council resolutions, the principle of "land for peace" and the achievement of the legitimate political rights of the Palestinian people.

The assembled leaders called upon the entire international community and, in particular, upon the Powers that play a fundamental role in sponsoring the peace process to intensify their efforts and give increased attention to confronting the dangers that threaten the peace process.  They discussed the means available to have them play a more active role and make a greater contribution to assisting the parties directly concerned in the conflict to overcome the existing obstacles and extricate themselves from the present critical situation, which is greatly damaging for all the regional and international forces concerned.  In this connection, the assembled leaders welcomed the mission to the region of the Secretary of State of the United States of America, to be undertaken in the next few days, and they conveyed to her their best wishes for the success of that mission.

The three leaders reiterate the importance of endeavouring to revive hope among all the peoples of the region for the achievement of peace and to enhance their commitment to peace as a fixed strategic objective from which there can be no retreat and on which there can be no haggling.  They do so in the belief that peace is the natural and moral option urged by all the divinely revealed religions and one on which a universal popular consensus has taken shape.  It is the road that leads to the achievement of security, stability and prosperity, as was unanimously affirmed by the leaders of the Arab countries at their summit meeting held in Cairo on 23 June 1996.  Accordingly, it is in the interest of all peoples that they should resolutely oppose all assertions that cast doubt on the viability of peace, that daily raise obstacles to it and that promote vengeful and hostile attitudes in an endeavour by those who make such assertions to assail the gains and achievements that have already been made along the road to a just and comprehensive peace and to retreat from the commitments and undertakings that the parties have assumed in a framework of reciprocity and mutual interest.

The assembled leaders are of the view that, to salvage the peace process from the dangers that it faces, the parties directly concerned are required to take tangible and specific steps that include, first and foremost:

1. Reaffirmation of the commitment of all parties to strive unceasingly for the achievement of a comprehensive and just peace, on all tracks and as soon as possible, in accordance with the agreed terms of reference and to avoid laying down any new conditions or adopting positions that are inimical to peace or incompatible with the peace process;

2. Abstention from all resort to force or violence, because such an approach is in fundamental contradiction with the spirit of peace.  In this context, the assembled leaders condemned acts of terrorism and violence against the lives of innocent civilians, regardless of the motives or source of such acts, and viewed them as constituting an attempt by a small group on both sides, Arab and Israeli, to disrupt the peace process and deprive the peoples of the region of their natural right to live in a world repudiating violence and rejoicing in peace and tranquillity;

3. The meticulous implementation in good faith of all the agreements concluded by the parties since the peace process began, the compliance of each party with its commitments and undertakings and the avoidance of any threat to violate them, given that to do so would be to upset the stability of international relations and to cast doubt on the credibility of the agreements already adopted and ratified.  This would undermine the confidence of the peoples of the region in agreements to be signed in the future.  In this connection, the three leaders affirmed that the Israeli Government must implement the stages of further redeployment, the second of which fell due on 7 September 1997;

4. Reaffirmation of the commitment of the parties not to resort to unilateral measures or actions that are contrary to their commitments and undertakings, that are incompatible with the spirit of peace or that have an adverse impact on issues that, as has been agreed, are to be settled by negotiation.  This applies, in particular, to ongoing Israeli settlement activity, the expropriation of Palestinian land, the imposition of collective punishments on the Palestinian people, and the attempt to establish the legal and de facto status of the City of Jerusalem outside the framework of the final-status negotiations.  The three leaders urged the implementation of all the provisions of the Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995 and the resumption of the final-status negotiations as soon as possible.  Israel must likewise refrain from undertaking any public works or implementing projects that may tend to alter the status of any part of Syrian territory beyond the lines that were in place as of 4 June 1967;

5. The commitment of the parties to adopt positions and pursue policies to ensure that preparations are made for the resumption of serious and intensive negotiations on the Palestinian track and the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, and the establishment of a climate conducive to the success of the negotiations and to bringing the parties to agreement on the issues they address.

In concluding their talks, the assembled leaders agreed to maintain contact with each other and with the parties concerned with a view to extricating the peace process from the present crisis for the good of all the peoples of the region.

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