INTERVIEW WITH SA'EB EREKAT, PA MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

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INTERVIEW WITH SA'EB EREKAT, PA MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Aaron Lerner 23 July, 1996

IMRA interviewed Sa'eb Erekat, Minister of Local Government in the
Palestinian Authority (PA) in English shortly after he participated
in the Arafat-Levy meeting on July 23.

IMRA: Israeli reports from the Levy-Arafat meeting indicate that
President Arafat agreed to limit PA activity in Jerusalem -
including Orient House. Is this an accurate report?

Erekat: Well I would not say that this is an accurate report. Many
issues were raised by both sides and each side raised their side of
the story. We all agreed to our commitment to honoring the
agreements.

IMRA: The Israelis say that President Arafat has accepted Israel's
position that foreign officials no longer visit Orient House.

Erekat: While it is true that the French Foreign Minister is not
coming to Orient House during his visit, there is a French
delegation which just visited Orient House.

IMRA: Does the decision of the French Foreign Minister not to visit
Orient House set a precedent for the future?

Erekat: No.

IMRA: So you expect foreign ministers and prime ministers from
other countries to visit Orient House in the future?

Erekat: Yes. Nothing has changed. But I tell you that this is
the start of making peace with another part of Israel.

IMRA: The parties have had different interpretations of the
agreements. Has an understanding been reached as to the
interpretation of the agreements?

Erekat: We have agreed to form a group which will review all
complaints. The group will see to it that the agreements will be
reciprocally honored. It is premature to jump to any conclusions
regarding the outcome of this process.

IMRA: There are also reports that President Arafat has agreed to
have a group review security arrangements associated with the
redeployment in Hebron. How does this jibe with the PA's previous
position that the redeployment should be strictly in accordance
with the Oslo 2 Agreement?

Erekat: There was only one issue raised regarding the redeployment
from Hebron and that is dealing with the problem that the
Norwegians were supposed to leave on August 12th and we want the
international presence to be extended and Danish, Turkish and other
observers to join the international observer presence in Hebron.
Minister Levy told us that he accepted our request and agreed to
making the proper arrangements for this.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Associate
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
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