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Peace Talks Expected To Resume Soon
JERUSALEM (IslamOnline) - Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are expected to resume Middle East peace talks, deadlocked now for months amid violence between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli army in various parts of the Occupied Territories, in the near future in Washington.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat reportedly told a group of visiting Israeli members of parliament on Sunday that talks between the two sides will resume in Washington in "the very near future."
Arafat said he would have no problem with meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak if necessary.
The Israeli daily English language newspaper, The Jerusalem Post, reported in its Internet edition on Sunday that Arafat was prepared to give up the right of millions of Palestinians to return to their land in exchange for Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel says the al-Aqsa Mosque was built over the Temple Mount, where Jews believe a holy site is also built. A visit to the disputed area by Ariel Sharon in September to the mosque sparked off a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that has become to be known as the Aqsa Intifada.
Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo reportedly said teams from both sides would meet "within two days." He also said that tripartite meetings involving U.S. officials could also be held.
"We will start consultations with the Americans Tuesday in Washington, and the Israelis will have their own consultations with the Americans, and if there is a need, there will be trilateral meetings," Abed Rabbo said.
Palestinian officials would fly to Washington at the invitation of U.S. President Bill Clinton, who is trying to secure a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians before the end of his presidential term.
Senior Palestinian officials, however, ruled out that there would be a summit between Barak and Arafat. They also discounted any breakthrough soon.
The Americans and Israelis are behind the current push for another round of meetings.
Clinton wants to achieve a foreign policy success before he leaves office that would write off an American failure during the Camp David talks in July, while Barak wants some kind of deal to put before the Israeli electorate due to go to polls in February to choose a prime minister.
After intensive talks with Palestinian officials late Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami reportedly said: "We are dealing with two things: a joint effort to reduce the violence - at their request and ours - and we are examining ways to move forward in the peace process."
This is the first time both sides will be talking about the peace process. Most of their meetings since violence erupted on September 28th focused on trying to find ways to stop the clashes that have cost the lives of more than 300 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis.
Gilead Sher, a leading Israeli official, told Cable News Network that "exploratory and preparatory talks" were ongoing with the purpose of restarting negotiations.
Meanwhile, violence continued in the Palestinian occupied territories with the death toll rising to seven Palestinians killed over the weekend. Six Palestinians were killed on Friday and Israel “target-killed” (assassinated) a leading member of Arafat's Fatah faction.
In a separate incident, shots were fired at two Israeli school buses but no causalities were reported.
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