Palestinians Want Implementation of Signed Agreements: ArafatPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Sunday that the Palestinian side did not ask the impossible from Israel but only the proper implementation of all signed agreements between the two sides.Arafat made the remark in response to the urge of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that the Palestinians should show flexibility in the peace talks. Arafat was speaking after his return form the Egyptian capital of Cairo, where he took part in the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting. Terming the meeting as significant, Arafat said the Arab foreign ministers supported the Palestinian rights. Addressing the Arab foreign ministers' meeting early on Sunday, Arafat said there would be no peace without the declaration of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Barak, who is going to New York to take part in the United Nations Millennium Summit, said his government would not accept any peace step unless Arafat showed more flexibility. United States President Bill Clinton is expected to meet Barak and Arafat, who is also going to attend the U.N. event, separately in New York on September 6 on the sidelines of the U.N. summit in another bid to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Yet, the gap is still wide between the two parties on the final-status issues, particularly the status of Jerusalem. A U.S. suggestion to share control over Old Jerusalem was turned down by the Palestinians. Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Maguid said, "The holy city of Jerusalem is a Palestinian Arab, Muslim and Christian city and the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Control over Jerusalem should not be shared by the Palestinians and Israel." It was also announced during the meeting that an Arab summit will be held in Cairo early 2001. This summit will be the first of its kind since 1996. |
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