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Israelis, Palestinians Resume Peace Talks on Key Issues
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began tackling the one of the touchiest issues, the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees, in one of several working groups to convene Friday in marathon talks ahead of Israel's Feb. 6 election.
But any breakthroughs could be nullified if Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is defeated in the election by his hard-line opponent, Ariel Sharon.
Sharon maintains a double-digit lead over Barak in polls published in Israeli newspapers Friday. Sharon rejects Barak's compromise offers to the Palestinians and says he would not honor any agreement Barak reaches before the election.
The Taba talks resumed Friday as Israeli negotiator Yossi Beilin met Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath to discuss refugees. The Palestinians have been demanding that all refugees and their descendants, about 4 million people, be allowed to return to their original homes in Israel, but Israel has rejected that. Shaath said earlier that progress was made on compensation for the refugees.
Other working groups were to deal with Jerusalem, borders and security matters.
The negotiators considered adding an informal session Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, at the Israeli delegation's hotel in the nearby Israeli resort of Eilat, with the end of the talks in sight. Barak said the negotiations would end several days before the election.
Shaath said the two sides were close to agreement about borders of a Palestinian state. He said Israel would get about 4 percent of the West Bank, and the Palestinians would receive some Israeli territory in return.
Solution of the West Bank border issue would imply agreement about the settlements, as well. In public up to now, the Palestinians have been demanding a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and removal of all the settlements.
The talks had reconvened Thursday after a two-day suspension, Israel's response to the killing of two Tel Aviv restaurateurs by masked gunmen in the West Bank. When an Israeli motorist was gunned down a few hours after the talks resumed, Israeli negotiators broke off a session, but Barak instructed them to resume the negotiations.
Police said volleys of gunfire struck the Israeli motorist's car as it passed the Atarot industrial park on the north edge of Jerusalem. Israel radio identified him as Akiva Pashkos, 45, from Jerusalem. Barak denounced the incident as ``a despicable murder.''
In a leaflet circulated in the West Bank, a branch of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah group took responsibility for the ambush. The group named itself the ``Thabet Thabet Brigade,'' after a Fatah leader killed Dec. 31 in what Palestinians said was an Israeli assassination operation. The leaflet said the shooting was revenge for Thabet's death.
Since violence erupted on Sept. 28, 375 people have been killed, including 318 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs, 43 Israeli Jews, and one German doctor.
Israeli election politics intruded on the talks in Taba briefly Thursday as sailboats with competing messages floated off the resort's beach. A schooner piloted by the dovish Israeli Peace Now group flew banners encouraging the negotiators, while three smaller vessels carrying signs favoring Sharon circled nearby.
Negotiators watching from the beach laughed as the competing crews shouted at each other, with Egyptian coast guard dinghies hovering nearby.
With a week and a half to go before Israel's election, Sharon maintained a wide lead. A Gallup poll in the Maariv daily showed Sharon ahead of Barak by 52 to 34 percent, on a sample of 509 Israeli adults with a 4.5 percent margin of error.
A poll in the Yediot Ahronot daily showed Sharon leading by 49 to 32 percent. The poll, by the local Dahaf agency, questioned 603 Israeli adults and quoted a 4.5 percent margin of error. The poll results were virtually unchanged from previous weeks.
In Gaza, meanwhile, a Palestinian official said Israeli forces fired Thursday at a group of visiting European Parliament members from Britain, France and Germany. Ibrahim Abu Naja, deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislature, said no one was hurt. The Israeli military said soldiers did not open fire anywhere in Gaza Thursday, though Palestinians fired at an Israeli position while the European delegation was visiting nearby.
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