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Barak And Clinton Discuss Ending Mideast Bloodshed
by Nomi Bar-Yaacov
WASHINGTON (AFP) - United States President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak held talks at the White House Sunday to discuss ways to put an end to six weeks of violence in the Middle East and upgrade of their bilateral ties.
Barak said his meeting with Clinton focused "on the importance of putting an end to the violence in the Middle East, stabilizing the situation and bringing about the implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings."
Under the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings brokered by Clinton in the Egyptian Red Sea town resort on October 17th, both sides were to take concrete measures to stop the Israeli-Palestinian violence and enhance security cooperation. But the bloodshed continued and has so far claimed the lives of over 200 people, mostly Palestinian.
During the meeting in Washington, Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Middle East envoy Dennis Ross conferred with Barak, his security adviser Danny Yatom and his chief of staff, Gilad Sher.
After dinner, Clinton and Barak met one on one. "Israel strives for peace, but a peace that will be reached at the negotiating table rather than through the imposing of the will of one or the other side through a kind of international activity," the Israeli leader stressed.
The Clinton-Barak meeting came after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat vowed in Doha, Qatar, to keep up the anti-Israeli uprising and Iran urged the world's Muslim states to take "resolute action" against the Jewish state.
"Our people are now more than ever determined to pursue their struggle," Arafat told the three-day summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Reacting to statements coming from Qatar, Barak said, "a negotiated agreement is a more appropriate approach to settling international conflicts."
"Unfortunately, we do hear different signals from the Arab side," he pointed out.
Before the meeting, Barak has expressed little hope that his talks with Clinton would succeed in ending the violence that has left the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in tatters.
"I am pessimistic about the chances of re-launching the political process with the Palestinians after my meeting with Clinton," he said Friday.
But another senior Israeli official said on Sunday said that the prime minister still hoped to conclude an agreement with the Palestinians in the two remaining months that Clinton is in office.
The prime minister thinks it may still possible to reach an agreement during Clinton's term," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, violence in the Palestinian territories continued, as Israel bombarded several Arab villages in the West Bank following shooting attacks by Palestinian gunmen on Israeli cars and buses near Jerusalem.
The bloodletting was unleashed by a controversial visit by Israeli hardline opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a disputed holy site in Jerusalem on September 28th.
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