Arafat, Barak Head Home After Failed Mideast Summit

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat headed back to the Middle East for damage control after failing in 15 days of marathon negotiations to resolve their 52-year-old conflict.

President Bill Clinton was clearly disappointed on Tuesday that the grueling, round-the-clock talks had not produced a comprehensive peace deal, but said both sides promised to make tough decisions on the status of Jerusalem by Sept. 13 when Arafat has vowed to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.

In a joint statement, the leaders pledged to avoid violence and unilateral actions and to keep working toward a negotiated settlement, but they did not set a date for any further talks.

Barak minced no words before his departure, blaming the Palestinian leader squarely for the collapse of the peace talks and warning that the region was being now thrust into "a period of considerable uncertainty."

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright endorsed his view, calling Barak "a very tough, brave and imaginative man" who was willing to enter into difficult compromises on Jerusalem in order to salvage the peace deal.

Arafat, on the other hand, was unwilling to go the extra mile during the talks, Albright told public television's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

Arafat remained silent as he left the Camp David presidential retreat bound for Egypt, where he was due to consult his key ally, President Hosni Mubarak, on Wednesday.

But senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat struck an upbeat note, saying he thought a final peace deal with Israel would be achieved soon despite the summit's collapse.

Both Middle East leaders face daunting challenges upon their return home, although each is likely to be celebrated by their own people for their refusal to compromise on the crucial issue of Jerusalem.

Yet, the chance to end five decades of strife has passed for now, and the passage of time could make it harder to to eventually reach any accord on the status of Jerusalem or the fate of Palestinian refugees, the two issues that ultimately derailed hopes for a settlement.

Without a peace accord, the risk of violence between Palestinians in the territories and Israeli settlers appears greater than ever.

Hundreds of Palestinians marched in Gaza on Tuesday demanding a resumption of their uprising or "intifada", and the Hamas Islamic militant group urged Arafat to return to the armed struggle.

Meanwhile, hardline Israeli parties, some of them representing Jewish settlers who feared losing their homes under any deal done by Barak, breathed a loud sigh of relief.

Asked whether it was inevitable that the Palestinians would declare a state unilaterally in September, Erekat told a news conference: "I believe that the continuation of our efforts will produce an agreement no later than Sept. 13."

One Palestinian official said there was an initial understanding to resume negotiations in August, although that was quickly denied by an Israeli official.

Barak, insisting he had made no concessions in writing and all ideas discussed at the summit were now "null and void", said a US envoy would visit the region in a few weeks to assess prospects for more negotiations.

Despite the summit's unexpected collapse, observers from all sides said historic progress was made.

For the first time, Palestinian and Israel negotiators discussed the hardest issues at the core of the decades-old conflict -- refugees, borders and the thorniest of all -- Jerusalem.

"As you know, the issues had kind of been taboo before," Albright told the NewsHour, citing a "vast public debate" that has been unleashed in Israel for the first time ever.

"I don't think things are going to be the same after this summit because finally they are really talking about these crucial and essential existential issues for both of them," she said.

The sticking point remained Jerusalem, with both the Israelis and Palestinians insisting on their right to have Jerusalem as the capital of their respective states.

In final discussions on Jerusalem, Arafat rejected an Israeli proposal backed by the Americans that would have given Israel "residual sovereignty" over all the holy sites in the Old City, while giving the Palestinians "custodial sovereignty" over some of those sites, Palestinian officials said.

This would have amounted to mere symbolic sovereignty for the Palestinians, the officials said in explaining Arafat's decision to reject the Israeli proposals.

The Palestinians were adamant about their demand for full sovereignty over all of Arab East Jerusalem, including the Old City with the exception of the Jewish quarter and the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.





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