Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators Meet at Erez Crossing in GazaIsraeli and Palestinian negotiators have entered a conference room near Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza strip to begin their scheduled high-level meeting.The meeting is said to be a routine one of the Joint Israeli- Palestinian Political-Security-Military Committee aimed at implementing what the two sides had agreed upon overnight Wednesday. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said earlier that he would not attend the meeting, but sources here said Arafat might join in some discussions during the process. Sources told Xinhua that at the midnight negotiations the Palestinian side was represented by Abu Mazan, Arafat's deputy, and the Israeli side by Shlomo Ben-Ami, the foreign minister. Shimon Peres, the Israeli minister of regional cooperation who had planned to participate in the negotiations, was reportedly not present because of Arafat's absence. But sources said Peres is to come to Gaza to meet Arafat Friday morning. |
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