Arabs Hurry to Iron Out Lingering Disputes on Eve of Baker’s Arrival : Mideast: They want to avoid anything that could give the Israelis the advantage at the bargaining table.

As Secretary of State James Baker III arrives today on an 11th-hour shuttle to clear the way for a Middle East peace conference, a still-divided Arab camp is moving quickly to settle key remaining disputes, ranging from the wounds of the Gulf War to the makeup of a future Palestinian state, which could give the Israelis an edge at the bargaining table.

In a hurried round of ministerial meetings over the last two weeks, Arabs are seeking to settle such important questions as how a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation would function and what role Syria, historically the patron to Palestinian radicals, will play in negotiating for a Palestinian homeland.

Palestinian officials said high-level attempts are under way before the conference convenes to restore “political warmth” to relations between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Persian Gulf countries after the PLO supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War.

The PLO is also seeking financial pledges from the Gulf states and the United States to aid Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip so that they will have the “patience” to undergo a long and difficult negotiating process, a senior PLO official said.

“As much as we have made some rapprochement with the U.S. with our Palestinian delegation, and as much as we succeeded in making some rapprochement with Europe after the Gulf War, it is even more essential that similar rapprochement be made among those Arab countries that will participate in the peace process,” said Nabil Shaath, a member of the PLO Executive Committee.

At the bottom of much of the negotiating is the secret fear that, in separate, bilateral talks with the Israelis, one Arab party or another may be tempted to cut its own deal and leave the others hanging. How, for example, to ensure that Syria does not include an agreement on the Golan Heights and leave the Palestinian question unresolved? How to ensure that the Lebanese aren’t so eager to get Israeli forces out of South Lebanon that they agree to eject the Syrians as well?

Just as important, how can the Arabs make sure that radical regimes aren’t financing terrorist attacks to undercut the process while the rest of the Arabs are at the negotiating table?

“We want assurances that the Arab countries will not conclude any agreements before the basic Palestinian rights are achieved,” Shaath said.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has played a key role as mediator in the Arab camp, meeting last week with Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd and Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, then hosting Syrian President Hafez Assad at a four-hour summit Saturday in Cairo.

Before a peace conference is convened, Egyptian diplomats said they expect to see significant progress in healing the long rift between Syria and the PLO, still not entirely repaired despite several recent high-level PLO visits to the Syrian capital.

“The Syrians say they accept that the PLO is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, but they have no relations with the PLO,” complained one Egyptian official, noting that the Syrians host a cadre of Palestinian dissident groups opposed to the peace process.

The PLO and Jordan in the past week concluded a memorandum of understanding that outlines the makeup of a Palestinian-Jordanian delegation headed by Jordan and also discusses mutual understandings about a future confederation of Jordan with the Palestinians, if that should be the outcome of the peace conference, Shaath said.

In an address Saturday seeking to rally popular support for the peace conference, Jordan’s King Hussein revealed that the United States has pledged to attempt to conclude talks for Palestinian self-rule within a year of the start of negotiations.

“The United States of America assured Jordan that it shall do its utmost that negotiations pertaining to the transitional period will be concluded in one year,” the king said. “This means that it is not improbable for us to witness, within one year from the commencement of negotiations, the beginning of the termination of Israeli occupation, thus enabling our Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to take up their responsibilities of self-government.”

In letters of assurance to the Jordanians and the Palestinians, the United States has envisioned an initial five-year period of autonomy for Palestinians in the occupied territories. After the third year, negotiations on a final status--including that of Jerusalem--would begin. Palestinians have sought to shorten any such interim period and begin talks on Jerusalem immediately.

Diplomats said some differences remain among the Arabs over how the talks should be structured. For example, should talks after the opening session be truly bilateral or--as Syria wishes and Israel opposes--should the conference retain some supervisory authority over them?

There are also differences over who takes part in the talks. Jordan and the PLO have been less receptive than Egypt and Syria to participation of the Persian Gulf and North African countries as observers. And there are vital questions over the talks’ ultimate outcome. Syria, for example, is likely to remain much more intransigent on the issue of an independent Palestinian state than either Egypt or Jordan, and everyone wants to know what happen in the territories during any interim period of autonomy.

To smooth over these questions, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat has called for a summit of Arab states likely to participate in the peace conference. Damascus has announced that it will host such a summit, but certain Western diplomats have reservations about the wisdom of it.

“There is a risk that the meeting will be driven by the most radical of the dynamics at work there,” one envoy said.

Several Western officials close to the peace process said Arabs’ concerns that one country will sell out another can be met by delaying implementation until all agreements are concluded.

“While the negotiations will take place separately, it would be stupid not to tie implementation of any (accords) to the implementation of all,” said one. “Since neither side trusts the other, and with good reasons, it’s only going to work on the principle of simultaneity.”

The PLO has not yet formally agreed to attend a peace conference. The Executive Committee met Saturday on the issue, based on the recent talks between Palestinians from the occupied territories and Baker in Washington.

PLO officials said the sessions with Baker failed to produce any significant new assurances. Western sources said it was unlikely that Washington would offer any important new concessions to the Palestinians during Baker’s visit here since that would entail redrafting letters of assurance to all the parties in the process.