Efforts Continue to Press for Agreement on Halting ViolenceU.S. President Bill Clinton has decided to extend his stay at the Mideast summit in a last-ditch effort to broker an end to the Palestinian-Israeli clashes despite little progress so far.Clinton delayed Monday evening his scheduled midnight departure and planned to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a third time after a flurry of bilateral and multilateral meetings throughout the day produced little positive results. The Mideast summit brought together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat, the protagonists in the clashes, Clinton, Jordanian King Abdullah II, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to thrash out the 19 days of bloodshed in the Palestinian territories. The bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, the worst in four years, have claimed over 100 lives, mostly Palestinians, and injured over 3,000 others. The talks were very complicated and passing a difficult stage, he said, adding that under such circumstances, the negotiations would be a little bit longer. Diplomatic sources said Tuesday night that meetings between the top leaders have ended and negotiations at lower levels are still going on to prepare for a final declaration, which will be issued at the closing session of the summit within hours. Meanwhile, fightings on the ground continued Tuesday in the West Bank and Gaza, with two Palestinians killed and over 60 more injured. |
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