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Barak Freezes Contacts With Arafat Until After Election
Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak has decided to halt peacemaking contacts with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his officials until after Israeli prime ministerial election on February 6, his office said Sunday.
"Prime Minister Ehud Barak has decided not to continue diplomatic contacts with Arafat and his people until after the election in Israel," Barak's office said in a statement.
"Security contacts for calming the situation on the ground, stopping the violence and thwarting terrorism will continue. The Israeli government continues to stand by the peace process on the basis of insistence on Israel's vital interest," it said.
Senior Palestinian officials had said Barak and Arafat would hold a summit in Stockholm on Tuesday. However, the statement said Barak has informed Sweden's leaders and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of his decision.
Barak told his cabinet early Sunday that it was unclear whether a possible meeting between him and Arafat would take place despite efforts by Annan and European leaders to arrange it.
The meeting was designed to deliver a more detailed declaration of the progress the Israelis and the Palestinians have achieved so far as a follow-up to their joint statement at the close of the peace talks Saturday night at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.
Israeli senior negotiators including Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and the Prime Minister's Bureau chief Gilad Sher had advised Barak to meet with Arafat.
Barak was concerned, however, that a declaration at the meeting with Arafat would list all the concessions he would make in order to attain a peace deal with the Palestinians, which might produce an adverse effect on his chances of winning the upcoming election.
Barak, who is seeking a re-election, is trailing behind opposition Likud prime ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon by a significant margin of 14 to 19 percentage points only nine days prior to the election.
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