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Israel Pledges to Speed Up Mideast Peace Process
Israeli assurances on the efforts being made to speed a settlement with the Palestinians were central in a lengthy telephone conversation Wednesday between Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami and Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, Italian foreign ministry officials said.
Ben Ami, who is the diplomatic chief on an ad interim basis while still holding his portfolio for internal security, briefed Dini on the Israeli position as negotiators seek to forge on after the failure of the Camp David summit in July.
In one sign of movement, Bassan Abo Sharif, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's special adviser, said at the Italian Adriatic resort of Rimini Tuesday that the September 13 deadline for declaring a Palestinian state "is not sacred."
"We can change it," he said at the Friendship Meeting, confirming statements from other leading Palestinian officials.
He also urged the EU to call a conference with the US, Israel, Palestine and the Arab countries to check out the chances of peace.
But according to many observers, the next probable key date for the negotiations will be the UN Millennium Summit in New York early next month, when U. President Bill Clinton is expected to hold talks with Arafat, on September 6, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Fruitful talks could be the prelude to a new three-way summit, they said, while sterility in the exchanges could plunge the peace process still deeper into crisis.
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