Israel's dovish Justice Minister Yossi Beilin held a secret meeting two days ago with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat to try to restore calm to the violence-torn Palestinian territories, Israeli radio reported Thursday.
Beilin, one of the architects of the seven-year-old Oslo peace accord, met Erakat in Jerusalem to discuss how to end the violence and revive the collapsed peace negotiations, the radio said, without giving further details.
The report followed news that a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Shin Beit security service official Yossi Ginossar, held talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday evening.
The wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence has killed nearly 140 people, the vast majority of them Arabs, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since September 28.
Israel generals and Palestinian security officials held meetings Wednesday aimed at calming tensions, but the radio said the army had emerged "disappointed" from the talks – JERUSALEM (AFP)
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