Arafat, Barak Hold Bilateral Meeting at Camp DavidIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Thursday held face-to-face talks at Camp David, the first of its kind since the three-way summit started at the presidential retreat in Maryland."A meeting was held between the two leaders, but I cannot elaborate on the content," an Israeli official told reporters on Thursday. President Bill Clinton had shuttled back and forth between the Israelis and Palestinians during the past two days of talks. As Clinton left Camp David Thursday morning for commitments in Baltimore and Washington, Barak and Arafat were expected to pursue their rounds of face-to-face talks to settle differences on final status issues. The two sides remain at loggerheads over all the core issues: the future of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and future of Jewish settlers. During Clinton's absence, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has reportedly take charge of the peace talks. |
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