Israeli-Palestinian talks end without agreement

10:30 AM

EGYPT - Israel and the Palestinians ended five days of talks in Egypt without a peace deal on Saturday but said they were closer than ever to agreement.

Negotiators issued a joint statement after the talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba saying they hoped to bridge the remaining gaps at negotiations that would resume after Israel's prime ministerial election on February 6.

Although no agreement was reached, Palestinian officials said Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Sweden next week to discuss peace.

Israeli sources said Barak was still deciding whether to go.

"It proved impossible to reach understandings on all issues despite the substantial progress that was achieved in each of the issues discussed," the written joint statement said.

"The sides declare that they have never been closer to reaching an agreement. It is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged with the resumption of negotiations following the Israeli election."

The negotiators discussed four main issues - the fate of Palestinian refugees, borders, security and the future of Jerusalem. The four were the main obstacles to a deal after an inconclusive US-brokered summit last July.

They persevered with the talks despite continued violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which took the death toll in a four-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation to at least 312 Palestinians, 48 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs.

The two sides said trust had been rebuilt at the talks. But that may not be enough for Barak, whom opinion polls suggest will be beaten soundly on February 6 by right-winger Ariel Sharon, who takes a tougher line against the Palestinians.

A meeting with Arafat next week might raise Barak's hopes for a last-minute breakthrough in the peace process or an end to the worst Israeli-Palestinian clashes in years.

"The two leaders will meet Tuesday or Wednesday in Stockholm under the auspices of the European Union and the United Nations. They will give a last-minute chance to agree on final status issues before the Israeli elections," a Palestinian official told Reuters.

An Israeli political source said: "There is indeed an international initiative to hold such a meeting with Arafat and Stockholm is one of the options, but there is not confirmation yet the meeting will take place."

Barak's office did not comment.

The source said some of Barak's advisers were warning him that a public appearance with Arafat might hurt his already slim chances of keeping his job as prime minister.

US President George W. Bush called Barak on Saturday and told him the United States wanted to see peace in the Middle East based on a secure Israel.

"The president expressed a desire for a strong, close relationship with Israel and a desire to see peace in the region based on a secure Israel," Mary Ellen Countryman, a spokeswoman for the White House's National Security Council, said.

Bush's predecessor, former President Clinton, was heavily involved in trying to secure a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. But it is not clear how big a role Bush plans to play.

Arafat called on Saturday for the European Union to step into the Middle East peace process.

"Clinton has now left...Bush will need time to set up his administration...in this gap the need for intervention on behalf of the European Union has never been as necessary," Arafat told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, has been shuttling between the Palestinians and Israelis to try to arrange the Stockholm meeting, a Palestinian official said. Sweden holds the EU presidency.

Although Arafat has little praise for Barak, he appeared anxious about a possible Sharon victory.

Asked by La Repubblica if a victory for Sharon would lead to war, Arafat said on Saturday: "Not a real war, but Sharon would trigger an escalation of the conflict.

"With (Sharon) in power we would not have peace," he added.

The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Some 20 percent of the seized territory has since been returned to the Palestinians.

A senior Palestinian source said Israel had on Friday presented new maps dividing territory which were the first that could be considered a good starting point.

Palestinians said the Israeli maps provided for more contiguity between the towns and villages in the West Bank and between the West Bank and Gaza as well as reducing the number of Jewish settlements that Israel wants to annex.

Officials from the two sides said the major sticking points remained the status of Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and security.

- REUTERS

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