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Israel Downbeat About Summit, But Vows to Give More Chance
Israel took a dim view about the ongoing Mideast summit Monday evening after intensive discussions throughout the whole day, but vowed to give the meeting more chance.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's security adviser Danny Yatom told reporters that the situation of the negotiations was not so good and up to now no progress has been made. "We have many points of differences," he said.
The talks would continue and "we want to give the meeting more chance," he stressed. Under such circumstances, the negotiations would be a little bit longer, he added.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who hosted the summit, and U.S. President Bill Clinton have been shuttling all day long among leaders to try to narrow differences between Palestinian and Israeli sides.
The Mideast summit was convened in Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm el Sheikh to end the 19 days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces that have claimed over 100 lives, mostly Palestinians, and threatened the faltering Mideast peace process.
Following intensive diplomatic efforts, Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were brought together Monday to thrash out the bloodletting.
Jordanian King Abdullah II, U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan and Chief of the European Union Foreign Policy Javier Solana are also presented at the meeting.
The clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are still continuing Monday and 2 Palestinians were killed and over 60 others injured.
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