Condition for Clinton-Barak-Arafat Summit Mature: Adviser

The situation for a peace summit between U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is ripe, Barak's top aide said on Monday.

Such a summit aimed at resolving outstanding disputes and wrapping up a framework peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, would be convened for several days in Washington in the next few weeks, said Danny Yatom, security adviser of the prime minister.

Speaking at a news briefing organized by Israel's Foreign Press Association, Yatom said the remaining disputes between Israel and the Palestinians could only be resolved through personal involvement of the two leaders, who can make decisive decisions.

Referring to the role U.S. President Bill Clinton could play in the expected Washington summit, Yatom said that the U.S. president, the most ardent sponsor of the Middle East peace process, could ideally act as a broker between Barak and Arafat.

The inner-circle adviser expressed Israel's yearning for such a summit, saying that Israel thinks it should take place as soon as possible.

Yatom also said that Israel is ready to make brave concessions in the peace talks with the Palestinians, but he accused that the Palestinians have no equal inclination to make any serious efforts for reaching a deal.

The Israeli-Palestinian talks are trying to resolve their disputes over a series of final-status issues, such as the fate of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements, borders, water and security.

The latest round of such talks ended Sunday in Washington without making any tangible progress.

Some analysts had promoted a Camp David-style summit for breaking the deadlock and reaching a framework agreement for a final accord this September.

Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Israel met in Camp David in 1978 and hammered out a treaty, the first between an Arab country and the Jewish state, to realize peace between the two Middle East powers.

Earlier in the month, Barak said that he thought the condition for such a summit is still not mature.

But at Sunday's security cabinet meeting, Barak stressed the importance of convening the three-way summit as soon as possible to try to close the gaps between him and Arafat.

In response, Palestinian International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath reportedly said on Monday that the Palestinians do not want a summit at the current stage as the condition is not mature.

Such a summit should only be used to finalize an accord, but there were no signs that the two sides were close to agreement on any of the main issues, Shaath added.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will arrive in the Middle East either by the weekend or next week, and U.S. Middle East special envoy Dennis Ross is also expected to be here on Thursday.

The two American top diplomats reportedly will meet Barak and Arafat respectively, trying to determine whether to arrange a three-way summit in the near future.



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