Clinton diverts to Egypt for Mideast peace talks

AP - By ROBERT BURNS

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a hastily arranged stop in the Egyptian capital Tuesday to consult with a longtime Arab ally amid indications of a shifting U.S. strategy for getting Israel and the Palestinians back to peace negotiations.

Instead of returning to Washington, as scheduled, after attending an international conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Clinton flew to Cairo and held late-night talks with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief. She was due to meet Wednesday with President Hosni Mubarak before returning to Washington to brief President Barack Obama.

Egypt and other Arab nations reacted with strong concern to remarks Clinton made in Jerusalem on Saturday. She caused a stir when she said with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at her side that his government's offer to restrain -- but not stop -- settlement activity in Palestinian areas was unprecedented.

And in a new twist Tuesday, Clinton made what appeared to be an inadvertent slip of the tongue in a television interview with the al-Jazeera network, referring to the goal of "an Israeli capital in east Jerusalem."

It has not been U.S. policy to favor including east Jerusalem in an Israeli capital; the Palestinians claim it as their capital, and the issue is one of the most important and delicate points that would have to be settled in any final peace deal between the two parties.

Two Clinton aides monitoring the interview alerted her to the mistake and that portion of the interview was retaped so she could correct herself.

Upon arrival in Cairo, Clinton was met at her aircraft by the U.S. envoy for Mideast peace, former Sen. George Mitchell, who briefed Clinton aboard the plane on his meetings in Amman, Jordan, with King Abdullah II and, separately, with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Arab governments had already reacted with criticism to her comments about settlements last weekend in Jerusalem as a tilting of U.S. policy toward Israel. But on Monday in Marrakech, Clinton issued what she called a clarification, saying her words in Jerusalem were meant as "positive reinforcement" for the Israelis. She added that Israel's effort still fell far short of U.S. expectations, and she added strong praise for the Palestinians.

On Tuesday in Marrakech, however, Clinton seemed to indicate that the U.S. would like the Palestinians to accept something less than a full stop to Israeli settlements, with the stipulation that they may achieve that goal in direct negotiations. Palestinian leaders have said they will not return to peace talks with Israel unless it halts all settlement building on lands they claim for a future state.