Barak Expects New Package to Break Deadlock in Peace Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Monday expressed hope that Israel and the Palestinians would work out new proposals in the next few days to break an impasse in the peace talks between the two sides.

Speaking before meeting a group of U.S. Jewish leaders, Barak said he hoped Israel and the Palestinians would "shape some kinds of package" that will help revive the peace talks on a permanent peace which broke off early this month.

"I believe that this is in the interests of both sides, so I believe that it will somehow happen," he said.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ground to a halt on February 3 after a summit meeting between Barak and Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Yasser Arafat failed to resolve disputes over an overdue Israeli troop withdrawal from the West Bank.

Arafat was angered by the Israeli refusal to include Arab villages close to Jerusalem in the scheduled withdrawal from 6.1 percent of the West Bank, which should have been carried out on January 20 under the Sharm el Sheikh agreement signed last September.

As a result of the stalemate, the two sides missed the self-imposed February 13 deadline for reaching a framework agreement on final status issues such as the fate of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.

At a weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Barak came up with a new timetable for the framework deal, saying he intends to reach such a deal by May.

He blamed the Palestinians for the impasse, saying they had turned down an Israeli offer to hold two series of 10-day intensive talks in January.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dismissed Barak's criticism, saying the Palestinian side had laid out questions over the Israeli troop withdrawal and presented a suggestion regarding the need for the framework agreement in early February, but Israel did not respond.

He said the main reason for the stalemate was that Barak did not focus his efforts on the Palestinian track of peace making.

Barak is reportedly devoting much of his effort to revive the peace talks with Syria, which broke off last month, with an aim of reaching an agreement which would help him fulfil a key promise to pull Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon by July. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon.

U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross is due to arrive in the region later Monday in an effort to narrow the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians and revive the troubled talks.

Local daily Maariv reported Monday that Barak would offer a "package of gestures" to revive the negotiations. As part of the package, the paper said, Israel would include better land in the 6.1 percent transfer.

Barak told the Sunday cabinet meeting that he would reconsider the maps for the withdrawal, but ruled out the possibility of including areas adjacent to Jerusalem.

In a sign seemly signaling a change of attitude, Palestinian Minister of Planning Nabil Sha'ath reportedly said Sunday that if Israel commits itself to implementing the third and final interim withdrawal, the Palestinians may show flexibility on the maps for the 6.1 percent pullback.

According to the interim agreement signed in 1995, Israel should carry out the third stage of redeployment before the final status talks. But the two sides have yet to agree upon the time and range of the withdrawal.

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