Appealing to Muslim leaders to help him prevent the ongoing "Judaisation" of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority president, Mr Yasser Arafat, warned yesterday that the future of the city was "the key to peace and war" in the Middle East.
Mr Arafat was speaking at a one-day conference of the "al-Quds" or Jerusalem Committee, attended by representatives from 15 Muslim countries, in the Moroccan city of Agadir.
Focusing his remarks on the rival claims to Jerusalem, the main issue preventing a full Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, Mr Arafat insisted there could be no compromise on his demand for Palestinian sovereignty in Arab East Jerusalem and the walled Old City.
"Any solution that does not ensure Jerusalem's return to Palestinian Arab sovereignty cannot succeed or survive," he said. That Jerusalem serve as the "eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state" was, he declared, a "red line".
At last month's Camp David peace summit, Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, essentially offered to share control of the city with the Palestinians, but Mr Arafat declined to discuss various Israeli and US proposals for such joint control.
President Clinton, who hosted that summit, is flying to Cairo today to discuss new ideas for resolving the dispute, and is to meet Mr Barak and Mr Arafat separately at the UN in New York next week.
The al-Quds committee members were last night working to formulate a joint statement on the Arab stance regarding Jerusalem. But while countries such as Syria and Iran are adamant that there is no room for compromise, Morocco's King Mohammed VI takes a more moderate position, and Egypt's Foreign Minister, Mr Amr Moussa, indicated his opposition to the more extreme positions by boycotting the gathering altogether.
In a French newspaper interview published yesterday, Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, claimed that a peace deal was a mere "arm's length away" and said it was up to Mr Arafat to show the necessary flexibility. Yesterday's conference in Agadir suggests that, whatever position he adopts, Mr Arafat will not find unanimous backing in the Arab world.
Reuters adds:
President Clinton meets President Hosni Mubarak today to assess whether he can clinch Middle East peace before the end of his term in the White House.
Mr Clinton, due to stop in Cairo for a couple of hours on his way home from Nigeria and Tanzania, has played down chances of success, speaking of "continuing difficulties".
But Mr Moussa, who boycotted yesterday's meeting in Morocco, has hinted at signs of progress that could unblock the path to a final settlement of the 52-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"This depends on a true understanding by both sides, especially Israel, of the advantages of peace for its security and its integration with the region, as well as ending this conflict," he said. "This flexibility has not been enough, but there are some signs that show the beginnings of a development on the part of the Israelis.
"If a formula is found, it could be the basis for putting back the September 13th deadline," Mr Moussa added.
Mr Clinton's visit is the first of a number of key milestones before September 13th, when Mr Arafat has vowed to declare a Palestinian state with or without a peace deal.
Many Palestinian officials have indicated that the date could be deferred if there was progress in negotiations.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and, in a claim not recognised internationally, regards all of Jerusalem as its "united and eternal capital".