Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at reaching a final peace agreement are expected to be revived soon even as violence continues to flare in the territories, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.
Yediot Aharonot, quoting sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said conditions lent themselves to a resumption of talks to reach an agreement by the end of US President Bill Clinton's term of office on January 20.
The paper said the negotiations would be based on the compromises envisaged during the Camp David peace summit in July, which brought together Barak, Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The summit collapsed without agreement, largely over the key issue of control of occupied east Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Barak's office refused to comment on the report, although the Prime Minister has said repeatedly that the door remains open to negotiations if there is a reduction in the violence that has swept the region for more than 10 weeks.
After 17 turbulent months in power, Barak resigned on Sunday in a bid to seek a new mandate to forge peace with the Palestinians, a deal seen as his only chance of victory in new elections.
The Maariv newspaper also reported a high-level meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday in a bid to advance negotiations.
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Prime Ministers Ehud Barak's chief of staff Gilad Sher and the former head of the Shin Beth domestic security service, Yisrael Hasson, met with leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan and information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, it said -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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