|
Short Of Peace Deal, Palestinians And Israelis Aim To Cut Violence
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinians and Israelis will take part Sunday in a four-way meeting with CIA chief George Tenet and Egyptian officials in an effort to reduce violence, as prospects of reaching a final peace agreement before U.S. President Bill Clinton leaves office fade.
"This meeting is not the first of its kind, and is the continuity of similar meetings held in Cairo, after the Sharm el-Sheikh summit," said a Palestinian who asked not to be named. He added that the location for the meeting was being kept secret.
"These meetings aim at implementing the security arrangements decided at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit," held last October in the presence of Clinton, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, he added.
He said that the aim of the Cairo four-way summit with the CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) was to "return to a pre-September-28 situation," a reference to the date on which the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, started.
The uprising has claimed 369 lives so far, most of them Palestinian.
The Israeli delegation will include the head of the Shin Beth security service, Avraham Dichter, and a senior member of the army, Shlomo Yanai, an official source said.
Asked about earlier reports that Tourism Minister and former army chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak would be attending, defense ministry spokesman David Zisso said his presence had never been officially confirmed.
The Palestinian delegation will include Amin al-Handi, chairman of general Palestinian intelligence, and Jibril Rajub, head of preventive security in the West Bank.
Since the 1998 Wye River accord, the CIA has been working to promote cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians on security issues.
Clinton had personally called for this meeting, following his meeting in Washington earlier this week with Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinian leader had then accepted to step up efforts to reduce the violence in the Palestinian territories "as much as possible," and resume security cooperation with Israel.
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Palestinian TV earlier Saturday that this meeting's purpose was to put an end to "Israeli aggression, to the blockade of the Palestinian territories and to the assassinations of Palestinian officials, but not to the Intifada."
Arafat indicated he would continue negotiations with U.S. President-elect George W. Bush, if the January 20th deadline could not be met.
For his part, Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo accused the Clinton team of advancing a peace agreement as "a bonus" for Clinton at the Palestinians' expense.
|
