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Trilateral Middle East Peace Talks will Take Place Soon: UN
The US will soon chair a meeting between top Palestinian and Israeli security officials, according to a UN statement released from New York Wednesday night.
According to the statement, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Palestinian and Israeli officials "have assured him that a meeting is being convened at the highest level of a trilateral security committee to deal with the current unrest."
"This meeting will take place at the earliest date, possibly Thursday, October 12," said the spokesman traveling with Annan, who is on a tour of the Middle East.
The committee, set up in 1998 as a result of the Wye River Accords, "apparently has not met at its highest level before," the statement said.
The spokesman said the latest agreement is a result of Anna's intense talks, taking place over the past 48 hours, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and concerned heads of state and government.
"The Secretary-General feels this is an important step towards the cessation of violence, which he hopes in turn will lead to a resumption of the peace process," the statement added.
Annan left New York for the Middle East on Sunday. He has been shuttled between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, trying to check the two-week-long violence in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and to convince both sides to resume peace talks.
Clashes began on September 28 after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a disputed Jerusalem shrine revered by both Jews and Muslims.
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