Details emerge from Taba talks Leaders haggle over summit; details emerge from Taba talks
By Naomi Segal
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
January 31, 2001
JERUSALEM — Israel and the Palestinians have agreed
to delay a decision regarding Jerusalem's Temple Mount for five years,
according to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv.
The paper on Wednesday published purported details of what was
achieved during a week of peace talks at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.
The talks ended without agreement Saturday night, but with optimistic words
from both sides that a final deal was in sight.
Citing a senior Israeli political source, the paper said negotiators also
had agreed on several other issues:
* Allowing an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley for six
years;
* Building a Palestinian city in the Negev; and
* Allowing Palestinian refugees the right to return to a future
Palestinian state, not to Israel.
Israeli negotiator Gilead Sher, a top aide to the prime minister,
confirmed some of the information in the Ma'ariv report, but added that some
of
the proposals had been raised and later dropped.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials denied that they had agreed to delay a
decision regarding the Temple Mount, or that they had agreed to temper their
demands for the refugees' right of return.
According to The Associated Press, Palestinian officials said Israel had
proposed transferring control of the Temple Mount to Islamic countries for a
five-year trial period.
According to one report, if no agreement on the future disposition of
the Temple Mount was reached during those five years, control would be given
to the Palestinian Authority in line with proposals made by President Clinton.
The Ma'ariv report said the purpose of the Taba talks was to bring the
two sides close enough to an agreement so that Barak and Palestinian Authority
President Yasser Arafat could make a public declaration of a final accord at a
future summit meeting.
Barak this week announced a suspension of political contacts with the
Palestinians until after Israel's Feb. 6 election for prime minister, but
Israeli
media reported that the situation changed after Arafat sounded a somewhat
conciliatory note during an interview Monday night on Israeli television.
``We are looking to achieve real peace between the two peoples,'' said
Arafat, who only a day earlier had launched a blistering attack on Israel at
an
international economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Arafat also asserted at Davos that Israel uses weapons against the
Palestinians that contain depleted uranium, a charge he repeated during the
interview with Israeli television.
The Israel Defense Force strongly denied the charge, but a Palestinian
Authority Cabinet minister called on Tuesday for an international commission
to
investigate.
After much back-and-forth, Israeli officials said Tuesday that efforts
indeed were under way to arrange a Barak-Arafat summit before the election,
possibly over the weekend in Egypt.
A day later, however, Palestinian officials denied that such efforts were
taking place.
