[00:07.68]Palestinian and Israeli negotiators plan to re-start
[00:13.71]their peace talks on Sunday.
[00:16.88]The goal is to reach a final peace agreement before September thirteenth
[00:24.08]That is the day Palestinian President yasser Arafat says
[00:30.01]he is set to declare a Palestinian state.
[00:34.87]On Friday,developments centered on comments
[00:40.12]by President Chinton to Israeli television.
[00:43.96]Mister Clinton said it would be a "big mistake"for the Palestinians
[00:50.49]to declare statehood without Israeli agreement.
[00:55.12]He warned that the palestinians would lose Americn aid
[01:01.15]However,he said he is sure the two sides can reach an agreement
[01:07.92]Mister Clinton described Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
[01:13.77]as"more creative and more courageous"
[01:17.90]than Mister arafat at the Camp David talks.
[01:22.02]He also said he will consider moving the American Embassy
[01:28.27]from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Palestinians oppose that idea.
[01:34.90]They reject Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital.
[01:40.94]They want the eastern part of the city to serve as the capital
[01:46.58]of a Palestinian state.
[01:49.40]The future of Jerusalem was the most difficult issue
[01:55.04]at the talks that ended Tuesday at Camp David.
[02:00.01]The talks at the presidential home near Washington lasted fifteen days
[02:07.16]No agreement was reached.
[02:10.90]Still,President Clinton said both sides made real progress.
[02:17.14]He noted that for the first time they discussed
[02:21.87]all of their most extreme differences.
[02:25.71]They reportedly reached compromises on the issues of Palestinian refugees
[02:32.53]and the borders of a possible Palestinian state.
[02:37.49]Is rael is said to have talked of surrendering 95% of the West Bank
[02:44.65]and all of Gaza.And,Israel reportedly agreed to admit
[02:51.86]about 100,000 Palestinian refugees.
[02:56.72]The refugees would get money from a proposed international fund.
[03:03.25]Mister Clinton says the Palestinian team at Camp David also supported
[03:11.19]the idea of paying Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries.
[03:18.01]Thousands of cheering Palestinians welcomed Yasser Arafat
[03:23.65]on his return to Gaza Wednesday.
[03:27.28]Mister Barak faced a much different reaction at home.
[03:32.92]He had lost his parliamentary majority before the Camp Dacid talks
[03:40.26]Just over half the Israelis questioned by the Jerusalem Post newspaper
[03:47.60]think he offered too much to the Palestinians.
[03:52.57]Three-fourths of those questioned said he should call new elections
[03:58.81]or bring the main opposition Likud party into the government.
[04:05.05]Israeli and Palestinian negotiators plan to meet Sunday at the border
[04:13.00]between Israel and Gaza.
[04:16.24]On Monday,the Israeli parliament is to vote on a measure to withdraw
[04:23.44]support from Mister Barak's minority coalition.
[04:28.17]President Arafat has urged Israelis to support their prime minister. |