The European Union's foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana said Tuesday that "a little bit of progress" had been made towards stopping Israeli-Palestinian violence at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.
But Solana warned in an interview with Europe-1 radio that negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were difficult "because there is a lot of distrust between the parties."
He said the main sticking point was an Israeli troop withdrawal to the positions they held before the clashes began three weeks ago, leaving over 100 dead, mostly Palestinians.
"There is a little bit of progress but the situation is complex, tense and so it is not easy to move forward," said Solana.
"The most difficult issue is lifting the closure (of the Palestinian territories), opening up the borders and the (Israeli) withdrawal of troops that have been deployed in the past weeks," he said.
"The Israeli position is very hard and on the Palestinian side, they need something in the form of a concession to accept the ceasefire,” said Solana.
US President Bill Clinton was leading a second and final day of talks at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Tuesday to try to clinch a deal to end the violence - PARIS (AFP)
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