The World - News from Feb. 3, 1989

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak voiced harsh criticism of Israel, accusing it of jeopardizing relations with its stand on the disputed Taba beach resort. He said Israel has been guilty of “repulsive” equivocation over withdrawing from Taba, an enclave at the edge of the Sinai Peninsula on the Gulf of Aqaba. Mubarak said the Israeli position is threatening normalization of relations under the 1979 peace treaty. In the treaty, Israel pledged to withdraw from all the Sinai, which it captured in 1967, but it has held onto Taba, contending that certain maps make it part of Israel. The issue is under international arbitration.