No Date Set for Clinton-Barak-Arafat Summit: Israeli FMIsraeli Foreign Minister David Levy clarified Tuesday that no date has been set for a three-way summit between the U.S., Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Israel Radio reported.Speaking after meeting U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk Tuesday morning, Levy said there is still a lot of work to be done before a summit could be held between U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Earlier, Israeli Army Radio reported that Clinton had convinced Arafat during their Washington meeting last Thursday to hold such a summit to break the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian talks. However, Indyk reportedly denied the report, saying that some basic conditions may have to be met before the summit. Barak's spokesman Gadi Baltiansky also denied there are any agreements on the proposed three-way summit, aiming at resolving outstanding disputes between Israel and the Palestinians and wrapping up a framework peace deal. Nevertheless, there are signs that Israel is eager to see such a summit take place as soon as possible to move forward the stagnant talks, which deal with the thorniest issues between the two sides, such as the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements, border, security and water. Some officials had promoted a Camp David-style summit for accelerating the negotiating pace to ensure the signing of a framework agreement and a final accord by September. Leaders of the U.S., Egypt and Israel met in Camp David in 1978 and hammered out the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the first between an Arab country and the Jewish state. Barak's top aide and security adviser Danny Yatom told foreign journalists in Jerusalem Monday night that the negotiation had reached a point sufficiently ripe to merit a three-way summit. He hoped such a summit would be held for several days in Washington in the next few weeks. Barak himself also changed his early opposition to the summit. He told his inner-circle security cabinet on Sunday that convening a three-way summit as soon as possible to close the gaps between him and Arafat is more important now than before. The prime minister even cited a date for the meeting -- July 5, right after the U.S. Independence Day on July 4. But Levy usually adopted a more pessimistic attitude than other officials toward the idea, claiming that such a summit would not be effective at this stage. The Palestinians are also against holding a three-way summit at present. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that there are still deep conflicts between the sides, and that Arafat is waiting for more progress in negotiations before convening such a summit. 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. Determining whether to hold a three-way summit is said to be high on the agenda of the two American diplomats. |
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