Peace gets a chance in Middle East

SHARM EL-SHEIKH - The emergency Middle East summit delivered an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians early today committing them to seek a ceasefire and end more than two weeks of bloodshed.

The breakthrough, which came after two days of often angry talks, committed Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to achieving a ceasefire in the West Bank and Gaza, where violence has killed more than 100 people.

Against a background of bitterness, the two leaders agreed to condemn violence and take concrete measures to restore calm in the region.

As the announcement was being made, violent exchanges continued in Bethlehem and Gaza.

The talks were mediated by US President Bill Clinton and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

Israel will withdraw troops from disputed territory, and Palestinian authorities will restore law and order in areas under their control.

The sides agreed to eliminate points of friction and maintain calm.

Mr Clinton said Israel would also end its closure of Palestinian areas and reopen the Gaza airport.

Part of the accord involved an international mission to investigate the cause of the latest uprising in the Holy Lands and find ways of preventing their recurrence.

The mission is to be set up by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mr Clinton.

The statement came as a dramatic closure to a conference that appeared hours earlier to end without any steps to halt the unrest that has shaken the region.

Mr Clinton said: "Both sides have agreed to issue public statements unequivocally calling for an end of violence.

"They also agree to take immediate concrete measures to end the current confrontation, eliminate points of friction, ensure an end to violence and incitement, maintain calm, and prevent recurrence of recent events."

But Mr Barak warned that Israel "would know what to do" if the violence did not stop.

He also indicated he intended to form an emergency government.

In an atmosphere darkened by a sense of mutual mistrust between the two sides, Mr Clinton laboured a second day to find a way to stop the street violence and bloodshed.

He resumed the second day of negotiations with quickfire meetings with President Mubarak, then Mr Annan before talking to Mr Arafat for 25 minutes. He also held discussions with Mr Barak.

The agreement is likely to calm international financial markets. Oil prices soared last weekend when violence intensified, and sharemarkets took fright.

Mr Clinton opened the summit by warning each side not to blame the other, but anger erupted at once.

"You murderers!" Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat yelled at US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Israeli acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen at a committee meeting.

Another two people were shot dead yesterday, bringing the number killed in 18 days of violence to 103, mostly Arabs.

In one incident, Jewish settlers shot dead a Palestinian and wounded three others as they picked olives near the West Bank city of Nablus.

Observers said that even if the talks between the four leaders did achieve a ceasefire, the scars of the violence could still push the Middle East in dangerous new directions.

Relations between Israel and Egypt, who have signed a peace accord, are at a dangerously low ebb. American influence in the region has eroded, if not evaporated, and the rage of Palestinians on the streets is still simmering.

Israel is moving to the right, the peace lobby disheartened by the spasm of hatred.

A Government spokesman said Mr Barak was close to forming a "national unity government" with Israeli hawk Ariel Sharon, accused by Arabs of igniting the violence when he visited a Jerusalem shrine holy to Muslims and Jews on September 28.

Mr Clinton was due to leave the summit yesterday to attend a memorial service for 17 American sailors killed in last week's suicide bombing of a US destroyer, but stayed on in an effort to mediate an end to the violence.

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