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Palestinians Say "Serious Progress" Made in Peace Talks Over Past Week
A high-ranking Palestinian official announced Saturday that serious progress had been made in peace talks over the past week, as Israel prepares a reply to a Palestinian proposal to join in marathon negotiations in Egypt.
"Serious progress has been made and, on certain points, even breakthroughs," the high-ranking Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Israel's peace cabinet is expected to meet Saturday night to answer Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's dramatic request for 10 days of intensive talks in Egypt.
Another Palestinian source said the Israelis will give them an answer on the talks Saturday at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), and that they would now take place near Cairo and not at the Egyptian resort of Taba as originally proposed.
The peace cabinet delayed its decision Friday following the discovery of a murdered 16-year-old Israeli's body in the West Bank Thursday.
This past week, Israelis and Palestinians discussed granting Palestinians sovereignty over the Haram al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, the high-ranking Palestinian official said.
Palestinians sovereignty over the disputed site would be "recognized by Israel on the condition that there is Palestinian recognition of Jewish religious rights," the official said.
The future of Jerusalem has been one of the major sticking points in peace talks.
An Israeli proposal also now includes providing for Palestinian territorial contiguity in the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea's northern shoreline, the official said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has called for US President-elect George W. Bush to relaunch the peace process after he takes office on Saturday.
"We call on (him) for a real relaunch of the peace process on the basis of UN resolutions ... and on the basis of the peace principles set out" at the 1991 Madrid conference "stipulating the exchange of land for peace," the leadership said in a statement issued Friday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, to whom Arafat relayed his wish for whirlwind talks during negotiations earlier in the week, expressed optimism Friday about the peace process.
"We have never been so close to peace," Ben Ami was quoted by the Turkish news agency Anatolia as saying on his arrival in Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials.
But the murder of Ofir Rahum, whose body was discovered in a shallow roadside grave Thursday in Ramallah, cast a cloud over whether the Israeli peace cabinet would approve a final charge for peace before the February 6 elections for prime minister.
"The state of Israel will not continue with business as usual following the shocking murder of the Israeli youth," caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in a televised address Thursday night. "It is difficult to hold serious negotiations in an atmosphere of this kind of violence."
The Palestinians' mad dash for peace comes with Israeli elections less than three weeks away.
Hardline Likud candidate Ariel Sharon, whom Palestinians revile, continues to hold a commanding 18- to 20-point lead over Barak according to polls published Friday.
For the first time, Sharon is also shown beating former premier and leading dove Shimon Peres, whose supporters have called for Barak to pull out of the race in his favor.
Barak unveiled his peace proposals to Israeli voters Thursday night in a televised bid for voters' support.
He suggested that a "special authority" for Jerusalem's Old City could be set up, with Israel keeping sovereignty over the Jewish area and the Wailing Wall. The Jewish shrine is directly below the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a Muslim holy site.
But he stressed that he would "never sign a peace deal that would place the (al-Aqsa) Mosque compound under Palestinian sovereignty" and he repeated his opposition to any recognition of the right to return of Palestinian refugees.
Barak also reaffirmed an agreement for a "withdrawal from more than 90 percent of the West Bank in return for keeping in that territory 80 percent of the settlements" in concentrations of settlements.
Departing US President Bill Clinton, who had pushed for a peace deal before he leaves office Saturday, appealed in letters to both the Israelis and Palestinians to continue efforts to end their decades-long conflict.
In a televised address, Arafat thanked Clinton for his peace efforts, saying the president helped the two sides negotiate on "Jerusalem, settlements, borders, refugees, water and other important issues."
He expressed his regret that a peace agreement could not be reached on Clinton's watch.
"We will not forget President Clinton's contributions," he said. (Agencies)
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