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- WORLD, Page 41World NotesMIDDLE EASTA Little Bit For Everyone
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- Even without Palestinian participation, last week's 26-nation
- conference on Middle East regional issues made progress at its
- opening session in Moscow. Israel counted it a diplomatic
- victory simply to sit at the negotiating table with 11 Arab
- countries, including Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The
- European Community, Japan, China and Canada were also
- represented in the Russian capital.
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- Because they agreed to get down to specific business in
- April or May, all the participants could claim some success.
- Negotiators will then gather as working groups in five countries
- to discuss Middle East refugee problems, economic cooperation,
- arms control, protection of the environment and the use of water
- resources.
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- The Palestinians boycotted the two-day meeting because
- Russia and the U.S. backed Israel's refusal to admit
- representatives from outside the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
- But the absent Palestinians may have scored a small success.
- U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and senior Russian officials
- said they would favor allowing Palestinians from outside the
- occupied territories to join the working groups on some regional
- issues, such as refugees and economic cooperation.
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