Arafat and Peres to hold peace talks
Under heavy US pressure, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres were set to hold long-awaited peace talks today, amid mixed expectations.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed the two sides to hold the talks, hoping to calm their conflict, which threatened to get in the way of coalition-building efforts for the US-led fight against international terrorism.
But repeated incidents of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip threatened to scuttle the talks again.
Israel planned to limit the talks only to ceasefire issues. Palestinians hoped to broaden them to easing restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza and moving toward peace negotiations.
In his first interview on Palestinian TV since fighting erupted nearly a year ago, Peres said that ‘‘the meeting was prepared properly, in my view, and it is being held in an atmosphere of agreement between the two sides’’.
A Palestinian official said a joint statement at the end of the meeting would establish a one-week period for implementing a cease-fire and easing Israeli restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza.
It would also include resumption of security coordination sessions and a series of follow-up meetings between negotiators.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said talks should lead to implementing the recommendations of an international commission headed by former US Senator George Mitchell, ‘‘including lifting the closure and pulling back the Israeli soldiers ... and sending international monitoring to the Palestinian territories’’.
Peres had meetings with Palestinian negotiators over the past two weeks, while his meeting with Arafat was being scheduled, cancelled and rescheduled. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon called the meeting off twice, claiming Arafat was not stopping attacks against Israelis.
Two Israeli women have been shot dead in gunfire incidents since Arafat declared a ceasefire last week.
Sharon had insisted on 48 hours without attacks before permitting the Peres-Arafat meeting. Arafat has said he is making every effort to enforce the ceasefire.
Sharon’s hardline partners in his centre-right unity government oppose talks with Arafat. Sharon has branded Arafat a terrorist, and other ministers say that allowing Peres to meet him gives Arafat legitimacy in the eyes of the United States.
Palestinians are just as suspicious of Sharon, who carried a decades-long record of military and political operations against them when he took office as Prime Minister in March.
Palestinians are concerned that Peres, who represents the moderates in Sharon’s coalition, will not have enough room to manoeuvre because of Sharon’s limitations.
In the hours leading up to the meeting, the Israeli military, Jewish settlers and Palestinians all reported incidents of violence.
The military said Palestinians threw hand grenades and firebombs at army positions in Gaza and opened fire at a Jewish enclave in the West Bank city of Hebron. No casualties were reported.
Settlers said Palestinians fired a mortar shell at a Jewish settlement in Gaza, and Palestinians said Israeli tanks entered Palestinian territory in Gaza and fired machine guns in all directions.
The Israeli military denied both claims.
