US views on in Israeli weopon's sales to China, upcoming Palestinian negotiations
Regional-USA, Politics, 4/4/2000

US State Department Spokesman James Rubin said with respect to the visit of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that "we do expect and are planning for a meeting between President Clinton and Chairman Arafat, and the Secretary as well, later this month. The dates haven't been set. The two leaders do meet regularly to consult on the peace process, and we would expect consultations to focus on how to accelerate the permanent status negotiations so that we can get a framework agreement pursuant to the discussions that have been held at Bolling Air Force Base and the discussions that are being resumed at Bolling Air Force Base this Thursday, all of which is designed to get a framework agreement as soon as possible so that the September 13th date for a permanent status agreement can be met. The Bolling talks will continue this week. We expect them to be intensive, substantive, carrying forward from what they discussed in the past. It's a little early to speculate on exactly what will happen, but we do expect an intense set of discussions."

Rubin said about Israel's potential withdrawal from Lebanon "let me also add that on the Lebanese issue, the Secretary has been talking to Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations. And obviously Prime Minister Barak would prefer to withdraw from Lebanon as a result of a negotiation, but he has made clear that, if necessary, he will withdraw unilaterally. And we're going to be working with them pursuant to Resolution 425 to implement Israel's decision."

Rubin added with respect to the weapon sales by Israel to China "it's no secret that the United States has had some serious concerns about certain arms sales from Israel to China, and we have a serious, intense process by which we discuss those kinds of issues with the Israeli Government - and we have done so and expressed our concerns. I'm not aware of any plan to respond by cutting aid as a result of this; on the other hand, it's fair to say that if Israel were not to respond to our concerns that it would have some effect. Precisely what, I'm not prepared to speculate."

On a possible three way Clinton - Arafat -Barak meeting , Rubin said "In this business, you never rule anything out, but the plan is for a bilateral consultation between the United States and the Palestinian Authority.
With respect to the Syria track, all I'm saying is that we have been trying to clarify the positions of both sides on a number of technical issues

On Syria, Rubin said "we stay in contact with Syria and Israel on a daily basis. I don't think there has been any major movement on the part of Syria since that meeting."

As to the resumption that talks of Bolling, Rubin described the coming negotiations as " Intense and substantive ... I met, myself, with many of the negotiators at the house of Deputy Special Middle East Coordinator Aaron Miller, who - and all of them describe their discussions as substantive and intense. So we expect that to continue, but these are difficult issues. I think the Brainstorming rubric hasn't gone away."

Rubin said on Lebanon in case of an Israeli withdrawal "we understand that Syrian Foreign Minister Shara has made it clear that Syria has no such interest in moving its forces up to the border. It remains our view that a negotiated settlement is the best means of addressing the needs of all sides. That's where our focus continues to be. So that is our response to the suggestion by the Defense Minister of Lebanon."

Previous Stories:
  Discussions between Cohen and Barak include China weapons sales   (4/3/2000)
  Israel stalls all forms of cooperation in Mediterranean, Moroccan speaker   (4/3/2000)
  Arab protest over Annan's nuclear weapons report omitting Israel   (4/3/2000)

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