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US Mediators Talk With Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators
US mediators on Wednesday held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators near Washington to seek breakthroughs in the Middle East peace process.
A senior US State Department official said that this was, in fact, the second day of such talks because US special envoy Dennis Ross had met separately with the two delegations on Monday upon their arrival in Washington.
The delegations, led by Israeli Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, have not yet had a face-to-face meeting.
US State Department officials refused to characterize the talks which are taking place at a hotel near the Pentagon, which is about 10-minute drive from downtown Washington.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, US President Bill Clinton said that he can not tell whether a peace deal could be reached before his term expires in January.
He said that a deal would require "a remarkable convergence of both sides willing to make difficult decisions and kind of leap off in the future together."
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