The World - News from June 20, 1988

Israel said it would open direct talks with Egypt on their six-year-old dispute over Taba, a tiny strip of beachfront on the Red Sea, and that they would ask a panel of international arbitrators to delay a decision on who should control the land. A week ago, Israeli news reports said that the arbitrators, appointed two years ago to settle the issue, had decided in late May to return Taba to Egypt. The panel was due to announce a formal decision in September. However, Israeli officials said that Robbie Sabel, the Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser, will be sent to Washington this week to arrange talks with Egypt in hopes of a compromise. Israel gained control of Taba in the 1967 Six-Day War and has refused to return it to Egypt, despite returning the rest of the Sinai in 1982 under terms of their peace treaty.