Israelis Send Senior Aide to Cairo for Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres sent a senior envoy to Cairo on Thursday to meet with top Egyptian officials in what Western diplomats see as an encouraging step in the Mideast peace process.

Avraham Tamir, a retired army general and the director general of Peres’ office, was the second Israeli official sent here this week. Also, two high-level Egyptian envoys have been in Jerusalem and political analysts said the exchanges could represent a breakthrough in efforts to warm relations between Israel and Egypt.

In his meetings with Prime Minister Kamal Hassan Ali and Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid, Tamir and the Egyptian officials discussed President Hosni Mubarak’s proposal for peace talks involving Israel and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, with or without Egypt.

Ali said it was premature to talk about convening such talks but termed the current Israeli-Egyptian contacts essential in laying a foundation for any negotiations.

Framework for Peace Seen

Mubarak, who will visit Washington next week and will meet with President Reagan, believes the agreement signed Feb. 11 by Jordan’s King Hussein and Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, provides a framework for peace that neither Israel nor the United States should let slip by.

The Egyptian leader said the Palestinians should put moderates on their delegation at the talks he is proposing. That appeared to be a concession to Israel, which rejects any talks involving the PLO. One Western diplomat said the Palestinians might be able to send representatives to the talks who, though PLO sympathizers, do not wear “their membership on their armbands.”