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by Lachlan Carmichael CAIRO (AFP) - In a quest to bring about a fresh start in the Middle East peace process, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat are expected to resume direct talks over East Jerusalem and the fate of the Palestinians Diaspora.
The two sides remain at loggerheads on all key issues, including the size and shape of a future Palestinian state and the fate of 3.7 million Palestinian refugees. Control over Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital, has proved to be the main stumbling block. Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the summit would take place later on Monday or on Tuesday, but did not provide further details. Arafat aide, Nabil Abu Rudeina, in Gaza, said that there had been talk of a meeting with Barak for several days, but no arrangements had been made. The peace process, due to have been wrapped up with a final accord on September 13th, has floundering since Camp David, with the Palestinians accusing Barak - who has no parliamentary majority and possibly faces early elections - of focusing more on his domestic woes. An Israeli parliamentary committee on Monday is reported to have approved a bill for a law that would prevent the government from handing occupied east Jerusalem to the Palestinians. The bill, which requires another two parliamentary readings before becoming law, bars the transfer of control over Israeli sovereign territory in Jerusalem to a foreign power. At Camp David, Barak reportedly agreed to limited joint sovereignty over east Jerusalem. Israel's acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, speaking in Egypt before heading to Jordan, said his government was seeking a framework accord on "all pending issues" over the next few weeks. Egypt, which backs the Palestinians while trying to bridge their gap with Israel, said Ben Ami's visit signified "something new" in Israel's position following the failure of the Camp David summit in July. Ben Ami disputed this. "This is not coming with something new. There was no need, all the ideas are there, all the wheels have been invented - we now have to take the tough decisions," he said. "What is on the agenda is a sincere attempt by us, and I hope by the Palestinians as well, to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement on all pending issues," Ben Ami said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Ben Ami also plans to discuss how to achieve such an agreement, which he described as a framework accord rather than a detailed final settlement, with King Abdallah II of Jordan. The framework accord would be detailed enough to include a timeline for implementing its provisions, he said. The Israeli minister said his talks with Mubarak did not include ideas to delay the most difficult issue, the status of Jerusalem, whose shrines - sacred to both Jews and Muslims - are at the root of the quarrel over sovereignty. "We never ruled out the possibility - in case we're unable to reach an agreement on all issues - to postpone one or two issues, but this is not on the agenda right now," he said. "I hope we will be in a position where, in the coming weeks, we will have a clear idea whether or not we have a framework agreement," Ben Ami said after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa. Time is running short with November 7th elections to choose a new U.S. president, and an Israeli source said this was "a last effort" to achieve a deal. Ben Ami said that Barak and Arafat might meet this week. The two have not had substantive talks since the Camp David summit. Mubarak adviser Osama al Baz warned against excessive optimism or a misinterpretation of the visit as an Israeli concession or change of attitude but added, "There are certainly some additional points that Israel wants to clarify with Egypt." |
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