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Barak Leaves for Summit with Arafat in Paris
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak Wednesday morning left for Paris for a scheduled summit meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat there, with the participation of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The three-way summit was the latest diplomatic effort to stop the violent riots which had plagued the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past few days, according to officials in Prime Minister's Office.
At least 56, most of them Palestinians have been killed in the bloody clashes, the worst since 1996, and more than a thousand wounded. Furthermore, many analysts worried that the bloodshed will halt the peace process between the two sides for a time.
The Paris summit was initiated by the United States, who has acted as an ardent mediator between the two sides, in an aim to defuse the tensions between the two sides and renew their peace talks.
Israeli Major-General Giora Eiland, head of Israel Defense Forces' Operations Directorate, said Tuesday evening that according to the army's assessment, there will be no end of clashes between Israel and the Palestinians until the Paris summit.
After the summit, the two leaders will also travel to Egypt to hold another session at the Rea Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh Thursday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Albright is also expected to attend that meeting.
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