Mideast Peace Conference Is Possible : Main Goal Must Be a Broad Settlement Protecting All States

The persistent conflict in the Middle East often leads to fallout in other regions and the world as a whole, while the possibility of nuclear weapons appearing in the region may turn political fallout into radioactive fallout. Considering this, the time factor acquires crucial significance.

A fair peace in the Middle East, which would guarantee safe existence to all states of the region, can be achieved only by collective effort. It is time to take resolute political action at all levels. Today, a Middle East conference with the participation of all interested parties and the attendant prospect of guaranteed peace is not just a wish, but a quite real possibility.

There exists a kind of international consensus in favor of its convocation. But to be successful, such a conference should have a clear goal--to reach a comprehensive settlement. Incompatible with this task are any attempts to use the conference just for settling specific issues, to sidetrack it from the main goal, or use it as a trial.

Genuine settlement should include the discontinuation of the occupation of Arab lands, and an end to the impermissible discrimination against Palestinians who have the right to self-determination and the right to a homeland.

Naturally enough, a settlement formula should reliably ensure the security of all states in the region, including Israel.

Experience has proved that Israel’s attempts to guarantee its security by aggression and intimidation of neighbors is a fallacious and myopic policy, all the more so since it is aimed against 200 million Arabs.

We recognize that Israel, like any other state, has the right to peace and a safe existence, but we are firmly convinced that the way to those goals is through honest participation in collective efforts to settle the Mideast conflict.

We see a possibility of a change in our relations with Israel. We do not consider the absence of relations with that country normal. They were severed through no fault of ours, but as a consequence of Israeli aggression against the Arabs. However, normalization of Soviet-Israeli relations is impossible outside the context of a Mideast settlement.

All interested parties, including, of course, the Palestine Liberation Organization, should take an active part in the proposed conference. They should engage in a collective search for mutually acceptable solutions on the basis of respect for the lawful interests of all the countries in the region. Compromises and solutions that now seem unlikely may turn out to be quite possible because of bilateral meetings that could be conducted on a par with multilateral ones within the conference framework.

An appeal to hold such a conference could be made by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which have the necessary powers by virtue of their special responsibility for the maintenance of universal peace and security.

It is time to take measures to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf. Of course, one cannot fail to see the threat posed to the freedom of navigation by the Iran-Iraq War. But even now this problem could be approached from a different angle.

The Persian Gulf is part of the Indian Ocean. The countries using those waters could start multilateral talks to draft guarantees for the safety of sea lanes in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the rest of the ocean, as well as guarantees securing the sovereignty of the coastal countries over their natural riches.

Why not also try to ensure the safety of air routes over the Indian Ocean, to agree on ways to combat terrorism in the air and on sea lanes? Implementation of the U.N. decision to hold an international conference on the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace in 1988 also would facilitate the efforts to ensure freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf.

Urgent action should be taken to stop the tragically senseless Iran-Iraq War. Here again a political solution is the only alternative. An important role in this respect can be played by the U.N. Security Council. In this context U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar’s proposal for a special session of the Security Council, with participation by the foreign ministers to discuss ways of terminating this war, deserves every support. Naturally, such a session should facilitate the cessation of the conflict.

It is necessary to understand that all these questions cannot be settled politically without the United States. We realize that the Soviet Union and the United States have lawful interests in the Middle East. These interests are related to economic and other issues, not with issues of privilege, domination, subjugation or involvement of states in military blocs.

We believe that good will and reason will prevail in the U.S. approach to the Middle East, as these qualities always have been stressed by outstanding U.S. politicians and thinkers at other crucial moments.