The World - News from May 3, 1988

The United States has proposed that Israel give formal sovereignty over a disputed Red Sea beach to Egypt but that the Jewish state retain effective control, an Israeli official said. State Department legal adviser Abraham Sofaer, now shuttling between Cairo and Jerusalem, proposed the compromise over the 700-yard Taba strip to avoid a crisis between the two countries, the Israeli official said. “The central point . . . is that Egypt assume formal sovereignty and its flag fly alone over the area,” the official said. Taba, whose only installations are an Israeli hotel and beach club, has been a matter of contention since Israel returned the rest of Sinai to Egypt under the 1979 Camp David accords.