Threats cloud peace talks

In Washington it was smiles, handshakes and photo-ops as the main players in the Middle East talks spoke of the possibility of peace within a year.

In Gaza it was talk of a coordinated campaign against Israel by more than a dozen militant groups.

Even before this week, hopes were not high that the first face-to-face peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two years would produce a breakthrough.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant to give up ground over settlement-building in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah group controls the West Bank, was forced to back down over demands for preconditions.

Still, they completed a cordial first round of talks yesterday and agreed to keep meeting at regular intervals with the aim of nailing down a framework for overcoming deep disputes and achieving lasting peace within a year.

But attacks in the West Bank this week - Israeli settlers shot dead on Wednesday and two Israelis injured on Thursday - cast a shadow over the meeting. Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, said it was behind both attacks. Yesterday it warned worse was to come.

A Hamas spokesman said 13 militant groups would work together to launch "more effective attacks" against Israel. Asked if this included suicide bombings, he said: "All options are open."

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, vowed that militants would "respond to the negotiations that aim at selling out [Palestinian] land".

"We declare that the actions of resistance have gone into a new and advanced stage of co-operation in the field at the highest levels in preparation for more effective attacks against the enemy," he said.

Sami Abu Zuhri, another Hamas spokesman, said: "These talks are not legitimate because the Palestinian people did not give any mandate to Mahmoud Abbas and his team to negotiate on behalf of our people.

"Therefore, any result and outcome of these talks does not commit us and does not commit our people, it only commits Abbas himself."

In Washington, Netanyahu acknowledged the problems he and Abbas face.

"This will not be easy," he said. "A true peace, a lasting peace, would be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides."

Despite widespread scepticism about the chances of this latest attempt to bring peace to the region, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to meet again on September 14-15 with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also present.

Diplomats said the meeting would be in Egypt, which with Jordan is a key Arab backer of the peace push.

The two sides agreed to meet every two weeks thereafter, US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell said. The agreement to continue talks marked a small step forward.

"We are convinced that if you move forward in good faith and do not waver in your commitment to succeed on behalf of your people, we can resolve all of the core issues within one year," Clinton, as facilitator-in-chief of the talks, told Netanyahu and Abbas.

"You have the opportunity to end this conflict and the decades of enmity between your peoples once and for all."

The two leaders, who appeared to be developing some rapport, shook hands after the formal start of the talks in an ornate State Department reception room.

Both Netanyahu and Abbas have said they want a "two-state solution". But both are hobbled by domestic political challenges, putting prospects for a final deal in question.

Abbas again called on Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and stop settlement activity. But he also said the Palestinians recognised the need for security, a key Israeli demand amplified by this week's shootings in the West Bank.

"We want to state our commitment to follow on all our ... engagements, including security and ending incitement."

- AGENCIES