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A slew of major issues ranging from a cease-fire to security coordination are expected to pop up at a key four-party summit on Middle East peace in this Red Sea resort on Tuesday, officials and observers say.
The summit will be the highest level meeting between the Palestinians and Israelis in the past four years. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II will also attend the gathering.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators finalized a truce agreement during last-minute preparations on Monday.
"The most important thing at the summit will be a mutual declaration of cessation of violence against each other," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, quoted by leading Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the cease-fire agreement, saying the deal will also include an end to Palestinian incitement against Israel.
Such consensus will rekindle hopes of resuming peace talks between the two sides, who have been mired in bloodbath over the past four years.
"An official declaration of a cease-fire, which will mark the success of the summit, will act as a prelude for reviving regional peace talks," Hillel Frisch, a senior research associate of Israel's BESA Center for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua over phone on Monday.
The release of Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons is likely to be another major topic at the summit.
Israel has been holding some 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in years of conflicts. The release of the prisoners is crucial for newly-elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to consolidate power and persuade the militants to stop anti-Israel violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet, as part of confidence-building measures in the run-up to the summit, approved on Thursday the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners who didn't have "blood on their hands."
However, Khaled el Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad leader, insisted on Sunday that their demand "is the release of all prisoners without discrimination."
"If the issue of prisoners' release is fairly resolved, it would have a positive impact on the whole situation," said el Batsh.
Israeli political sources said on Sunday a joint committee will be set up with the Palestinians to further discuss the issue after Tuesday's summit.
The two sides are also expected to talk about the planned Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Under a so-called "disengagement" plan, Sharon planned to withdraw Jewish settlers and forces from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four smaller ones in the West Bank.
The plan, originally meant to be unilateral, is likely to be carried out in a bilateral way as the two sides restarted contacts and meetings.
Sharon, for his part, has urged the Palestinian leadership to seriously crack down on militants.
The Palestinian leadership should "stop terror activities, break up the terror infrastructure and carry out governmental reforms," Sharon said last Friday, using a terminology for anti-Israeli activities.
Abbas has said he will cooperate with rather than confront the gunmen for fear of stirring internal unrest.
Other issues expected to be raised at Tuesday's meeting may also include an Israeli plan to transfer security control of five West Bank cities to the Palestinian side and a Palestinian demand that Israel stop "targeted killing" of wanted Palestinian militants, according to official sources.
Analysts believe the summit will provide a rare opportunity for the Palestinian and Israeli sides to talk to each other after years of deadlock, but they warned "unrealistically high expectation" will result in bitter disillusion.
"It is just the beginning," said Hasan Nafaa, a professor in political science at Cairo University.
"I would regard the summit as a success if the two sides announce a formal cease-fire, but when it comes to resuming peace talks and reactivating the stalled roadmap peace plan, they still have a long way to go."
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2005)
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