FBIS Coverage of the Middle East Peace Talks: 1977 December

PPROVED FOR RELEASE CIA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION AR 70-14 13NOV201
V. 27 Dec 77 D 21 EGYPT
[As-Sadat- I beg your pardon?
(Question] I said could you categorize those proposals? What do you think of them?
[As-Sadat] Well, as I told you, we have points of difference and points of agreement,
[Queetion) Mr president, [name indistinct] of the UNITED PRESS. You talked aboutagreement on the Sinai front. Could you be more specific and tell us what progresshas been on the Sinai? Have you accepted the Israeli proposal about withdrawal?Secondly, when you talk about ministerial level, does this mean the foreign ministersexclusively in the Cairo conference now?
[As-Sadat] The second part please.
tQuestion] you said you .were raising the level of participation in the Cairo conferenceto the ministerial level. Were you referring to foreign ministers exclusively now? -
[As-Sadat] I have stated before that in the political committee there will bethe
foreign ministers. and the military committee there will be the defense ministers.
For the first part what have you asked?
[Question] The specifics of Israelis proposals on withdrawal. Have you accepted a line
of withdrawqal? How do. you categorize [word indistinct])?
[As-Sadat] I have heard the proposals. Premier Begin told us about it, and we are
preparing, our counterproposals in the military committee. But really what concerns_us in this respect is the comprehensive settlement. It is not Sinai that is the
.problem now. As I told you, we are after peace, after n ai th
Regarding Sinai, this is auside isuer peace inte genuine peace in the area,
it wil be profi AsItldcusinaomehnsive setlmnmilar bepart of it. As I told you, I prefer not to reveal anything and leave themilitary committee to work on the details and discuss proposals and counterproposalsuntil we reach agreement,
[Question] [name indistinct] several German and Israeli papers. You received an') answer from Prime Minister Begin about the PLO. Mr President, I.Yo reidianc,]
- of Israel who motioned to accept your peace move in the Knessiet But donit you think
you did not answer former question about the PLO, the role it should play? Donut
you think that self-determination of the Palestinian people should include the right
to choose also their representatives Don't you feel bound to adhere also to the
Rabat conference about it of 197L, and what role do you think should the PLG play in thepeacemaking process?
[As-Sadat] I asked before the Knesset that the Palestinians should.be a part of thissettlement because, as I said, the Palestinian question is the core of the whole problem.
Well,' the PLO now is in the refection camp. In spite of that, I sent them an invitationand they refused and excluded themselves. I did not exclude then. For the future, let
us wait for what would develop. -
[Moderator] Gentlemen, we have time for two or .three questions at most. "
[Question] Mr President, [name indistinct] of CBS news. When you were in Jerusalem,Mr President, you stated that peace would onlynbe possible when the Israelis withdrew
from all Arab land, including the entire Sinai Pensul an thersaem. wi
ask you, Sir, whether that is still our insula and east Jerusal em May IYou position today?