Palestinians, Israel Jockey for Talks Position

The Israeli and Palestinian delegates jockeyed hard for position Monday before the Middle East peace talks, with the Palestinians claiming a victory by getting equal speaking time with other delegations and the Israelis complaining that the United States, in its first act as referee at the talks, had favored the Arabs.

President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev will inaugurate the long-awaited conference Wednesday after a mini-summit meeting today, their second in three months and the first since conservative opponents of Gorbachev tried and failed to oust him in a coup in August.

U.S. officials said Bush hopes to find out from Gorbachev just how much authority the central government in Moscow retains in the fracturing country.

Last week, U.S. officials said Bush planned to offer Gorbachev a package of $1.25 billion in humanitarian aid. But Administration officials who preceded Bush to Madrid said the aid plan is now “up in the air” because Washington is unsure whether the money should go to the central government, the governments of the remaining 12 republics or elsewhere.

Gorbachev arrived in Madrid on Monday night, but Bush planned an overnight flight from Washington, arriving just in time for the working lunch at the Soviet Embassy. The two presidents plan a joint news conference after their talks.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III and other Administration officials have been careful to include the Soviet Union as an almost-equal partner in the Middle East peace process. But Bush, in a statement a few hours before he left Washington, told a group of business leaders: “Only the United States, it is only our country, that can serve as a catalyst for peace.”

The main show in Madrid remains the Mideast peace conference, the most comprehensive ever attempted. The conference organizing committee, a U.S.-Soviet-Spanish operation, announced plans Monday for a three-day event with two days of formal speeches by Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians, Lebanon and Syria. Rebuttals were scheduled for Friday.

Although Jordan and the Palestinians are officially part of a joint delegation, the conference organizers allocated the delegation two 45-minute segments, one for the Jordanians and one for the Palestinians.

Palestinian delegates contended that their equal speaking time confirms their ultimate goal of making the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip into a Palestinian nation. “We are not half a people,” declared spokesperson Hanan Ashrawi. “And we don’t give half a speech.”

Mohammed Shtayyeh, coordinator of the Palestinian delegation, added: “This has been settled. The Palestinians have equal rights as any other delegation.”

For the same reason, the Israelis, who have zealously sought to avoid letting the Palestinians display any sign of nationhood, protested sharply.

“If they have equal time with the Jordanians, or Israel, or with any of the countries, this would connote that they are a separate national entity, which is not something which was agreed upon or suggested by the United States,” said Zalman Shoval, Israel’s ambassador to Washington.

“We have to make it clear,” added a senior government official who asked not to be named. “There can be no mechanism that grants the Palestinians a separate delegation.”

The Israelis complained to Dennis Ross, Baker’s point man in the nitty-gritty of the talks, but to no avail. Israeli officials complained that Ross had brushed off their complaints as meaningless. “This is an ongoing situation,” said the senior official. “This is not going to work if that is the Americans’ attitude.”

The official said Shoval had protested to Ross about the statement of one Palestinian delegate that he represents the Palestine Liberation Organization. He said Shoval was told to “hold his breath and take it.” Israel rejects a role for the PLO, which is widely viewed as taking part behind the scenes anyway. Israel regards the PLO as a terrorist group.

When asked if the disagreement might endanger the conference, Shoval responded, “I would say endanger is too strong a word.”

Other conference details went the Israelis’ way. To prevent the display of the Palestinian flag, Baker decreed that there will be no flags of any participant flown at the conference table.

The large Palestinian contingent, including 14 negotiators, arrived in Madrid bearing small olive branches and chanting “Palestine is Arab.”

They circulated a list of 25 “confidence-building measures” they plan to demand from Israel when talks get under way. The demands include the release of political prisoners, a cessation of housing demolitions for alleged crimes and permission to raise the Palestinian flag in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel’s delegation, led by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir is scheduled to arrive today. Meantime, the Israeli advance team has already set up a press room and begun offering interviews. By contrast, delegates from Syria, when asked by a reporter if someone would give an interview, said to come back the next day.

Bush, as he prepared to leave Washington, hailed the conference as “historic.” But he warned: “We have a long, long way to go before we have the makings of--or have an agreement for--peace in that troubled corner of the world.

“These are important meetings,” he added. “It’s worth it--believe me, it’s worth it. I am hoping that it will be a first step . . . in bringing peace to this part of the world that has suffered too long from war and conflict.”

Gorbachev was equally upbeat and equally vague. In an interview with the Arab newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat, the Soviet president said, “Let us hope that a glimmer of hope has been sighted in the tortured history of the Middle East.”

Nevertheless, preparations for the peace conference were marked by violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Gunmen sprayed an Israeli bus with bullets, killing two Jewish settlers who were on their way to a Tel Aviv rally urging Israel to refuse to give up any of the occupied territory. Israeli officials blamed hard-line Palestinians for the attack, an assertion that was tacitly accepted by Palestinian representatives in Madrid.

“We are here to make peace,” Ashrawi said. “It is very unfortunate that the first incident we hear about when we come here is an incident of violence.”

Times staff writers Doyle McManus and Kim Murphy contributed to this report.

Today’s Events

Highlights of President Bush’s schedule: 10:45 a.m.* Arrives at Barajas Airport, Madrid.

11:10 a.m. Arrives at U.S. ambassador’s residence.

12:30 p.m. Meets with President Mikhail S. Gorbachev at Soviet Embassy.

6:00 p.m. Meets with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez at Moncloa Palace.

7:30 p.m. Dines with King Juan Carlos I at Zarzuela Palace.

* Schedule is in local Madrid time

Superpower Summits Over the Years

Summit meetings between the United States and Soviet Union began in World War II . They have had mixed results: Tehran, November, 1943--President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin of Soviet Union discuss the war against Germany.

Yalta, Soviet Union, February, 1945--Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin discuss postwar world, granting Stalin influence over the nations that would ultimately form Soviet Bloc.

Potsdam, Germany, July, 1945--President Harry S. Truman and Clement Atlee, Churchill’s successor, face Stalin. Truman tells Stalin the United States has a powerful new weapon but gives no details.

Geneva, July, 1955--President Dwight D. Eisenhower meets with Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin and leaders of England and France to discuss occupied Germany.

Camp David, Md., September, 1959--Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev meets Eisenhower during U.S. visit. They agree to reopen talks on status of Berlin.

Paris, May, 1960--Meeting collapses on opening day when Khrushchev demands apology for American U-2 spy plane shot down over Soviet territory. He withdraws invitation for Eisenhower to visit.

Vienna, June, 1961--President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev meet, but talks on nuclear test ban and arms control produce no agreement. They issue joint communique affirming support for neutral Laos.

Glassboro, N.J., June, 1967--President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet leader Alexei Kosygin meet but resolve no differences over Vietnam War, Arab-Israeli War and nuclear arms.

Moscow, May, 1972--President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev meet in first visit by U.S. President to Moscow. They sign SALT I treaty and accords on health and scientific cooperation.

Washington, June, 1973--Brezhnev and Nixon pledge to seek pact to end arms race in 1974.

Moscow, June, 1974--Nixon and Brezhnev sign nuclear-arms documents, including one limiting underground nuclear explosions.

Vladivostok, Soviet Union, November, 1974--President Gerald R. Ford and Brezhnev tentatively agree to limit number of strategic offensive nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles.

Helsinki, Finland, July, 1975--Ford and Brezhnev are among leaders of 35 nations meeting on European security. They report progress on strategic arms issues.

Vienna, June, 1979--President Jimmy Carter, Brezhnev end seven years of strategic arms limitation talks with signing of SALT II treaty.

Geneva, November, 1985--President Ronald Reagan, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev hold private talks but reach no breakthroughs.

Reykjavik, Iceland, October, 1986--Reagan and Gorbachev hold detailed talks on eliminating nuclear weapons but disagree over U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, known as “Star Wars.”

Washington, December, 1987--Reagan and Gorbachev sign treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces, but disagreement over “Star Wars” blocks progress on strategic arms reduction.

Moscow, May, 1988--Reagan and Gorbachev exchange ratified texts of treaty on intermediate-range missiles, discuss strategic and conventional arms and stroll in Red Square. Reagan softens criticism of Soviet human rights abuses.

New York, December, 1988--Reagan, Gorbachev and President-elect George Bush discuss Gorbachev’s plan to reduce Soviet forces by 500,000 troops, pull 50,000 from Europe.

Malta, December, 1989--Bush and Gorbachev hold talks that produce no breakthroughs.

Washington, May, 1990--Bush and Gorbachev agree to slash long-range nuclear weapons, halt production of chemical weapons and lift trade barriers against Moscow.

Helsinki, Finland, September, 1990--Bush and Gorbachev agree to take joint action if Iraq does not comply with U.N. demands that it withdraw from Kuwait.

Moscow, July, 1991--Bush and Gorbachev sign START treaty and announce that they will work to convene Mideast peace conference.

Source: Associated Press