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by Sara Darwish CAIRO (IslamOnline) - An emergency Middle East peace summit ended in Sharm al-Sheikh with a call for an end to the violence between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators in what observers here concluded was a limited success in marathon talks between the two sides. United States President Bill Clinton said in a joint press conference that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak would both publicly appeal for calm and a stop the violent clashes that has left more than 95 Palestinians and four Israeli Jews dead. The communiqué read by Clinton at the end of the two-day meeting was vague. The U.S. president said the agreement involves reopening Gaza airport, lifting the closure of Palestinian cities and towns and a redeployment of Israeli troops. A fact-finding commission headed by the U.S. would be set up to decide who is to blame for the eruption of the bloodshed. In return the Palestinians were expected to restore law and order in the Palestinian territories and round up the newly released members of the two opposition groups Hamas and Jihad - both groups advocate taking up arms against Israel as the only way to restore Arab occupied land. Clinton, who helped negotiate the agreement, said that security arrangements would be aided by the U.S., which analysts interpret as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement, culminating in arrests of more members of Hamas and Jihad. Arafat and Barak did not conduct any face-to-face negotiations during the summit. Clinton shuttled between Barak and Arafat, while special Middle East envoy Dennis Ross shuttled between the delegations trying to resolve issues concerning the ceasefire agreement. Clashes, however, continued as the leaders held their last session. One Palestinian man was killed near the West Bank town of Nablus. Witnesses said he was shot dead by Jewish settlers while he was picking olives. Former Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ahsrawi told Cable News Network (CNN) that Palestinians were enraged by the accord and that the agreement was made "under duress." "The Palestinians are really enraged," Ashrawi said. "They feel that this type of achievement was achieved under duress ... under unfair and tremendous pressure on Arafat motivated by his need to save lives." |
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