Egyptian information minister, Safwat Sharif has said there has been an agreement to stop violence in the Palestinian territories in a way that “secures the Palestinians’ rights, according to a report by Al Jazira satellite channel Tuesday. However, the Israelis showed pessimism as to any step forward.
The station’s correspondent at the Red Sea resort where participants have been for the second day, trying to hammer out a formula to bring an end to more than two weeks of bloodshed, said that some of the points agreed on by the key players so far include Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas to pre-Intifada lines, and lifting the Israeli siege imposed on the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Barak's acting foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami said the players have given up hope of reaching a full accord on ending weeks of violence and are working out the terms of a binding statement to be given by Clinton.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and UN chief Kofi Annan met Tuesday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "to try to save the situation", a delegation member at the Middle East emergency summit told AFP.
"The four leaders are trying to save the situation and the summit from the dead-end in which it is," the delegation member who declined to be identified said.
The meeting came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak left his hotel for talks with US President Bill Clinton at the summit which aims at ending two weeks of violence in the Palestinian territories, AFP correspondents said – (Several Sources)
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