Israel, Palestine to sign
deal
QUEENSTOWN, Oct 23
(AFP,AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agreed today on a
breakthrough land-for-peace West Bank accord, overcoming
a last-minute snag about the status of an American
convicted of spying for Israel.
A White House signing
ceremony was planned for later today. "It's a
go", a US official said.
US President Bill Clinton
gave reporters the thumbs-up as he hurriedly boarded his
helicopter for the trip back to Washington, suggesting
that the snag with Israel would not prevent Mr Netanyahu
and Mr Arafat from finalising the accord.
The dispute had centered
on Israel's insistence that Jonathan Polland, a navy
intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel, be
released. There was no immediate indication of how it was
resolved.
As Mr Clinton departed for
Washington, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was
meeting with Mr Arafat to inform him that the ceremony
would take place, said Mr Hassan Abdel Rahman, a
Palestinian official.
As Mr Clinton and Mr
Netanyahu discussed the Pollard dispute, their aides
traded charges about who was responsible for the delay.
A senior Israeli official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, had said earlier the
USA had reached in understanding with Israeli negotiators
for Jonathan Pollard's release. The official told the
Associated Press the Clinton Administration abruptly
backed off the plan because of opposition from US
intelligence officials.
Reflecting growing ire
here, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart responded:
"Any comments or suggestions US President Clinton
committed to the release of Jonathan Pollard are false
and inaccurate".
The Palestinians,
including Mr Arafat, were upset by what they hoped would
only be a delay, but took the opportunity to go for
walks, read and nap.
The snag apparently took
the US delegation by surprise. Mr Clinton huddled with
his negotiating team at a hastily arranged meeting in the
same room where the agreement had been sealed hours
earlier.
Israelis and Palestinians
who participated in the talks, which ended as the sun
rose over the secluded Chesapeake Bay retreat, praised
the West Bank agreement as good for people on both sides
of the lingering dispute.
Asked if the accord moved
the Palestinians closer to becoming a state, Mr Arafat's
spokesman Marwan Kanafani smiled and softly replied, yes,
the question of statehood will be negotiated as part of
final status" talks that can now begin.
Mr Clinton would attend a
Palestinian conference in their territory to witness the
changing of the 1964 charter, Mr Kanafani said.
Mr Netanyahu has said he
wants the full Palestine National Council to convene and
revoke the PLO founding charter, which calls for
dismantling the Jewish state, but other Israelis would
settle for the smaller Palestine Central Committee to
begin the process.
The Israelis and
Palestinians began meeting on October 15, responding to
American pressure for agreement on interim issues in the
1993 Oslo peace accords, which have been stalled for 19
months.
After breaking the
impasse, final status talks could begin on more tough
issues, including palestinian statehood, Jerusalem’s
future, borders and refugees all matters to be decided by
a May 4 deadline.
Key elements of a deal
fell into place yesterday. According to Israeli and
Palestinian officials, the two sides tentatively have
agreed to:
Have the Israelis release
several hundred of 3,000 jailed Palestinians, whom Mr
Arafat calls political prisoners.
A security plan with a
timetable for Palestinians to arrest alleged terrorists
and confiscate weapons, under CIA supervision. Israel
dropped its insistence that suspects be extradited to
Israel.
An Israeli troop pullback
from an additional 13 per cent of the West Bank.
Establishment of a joint
Israeli-Palestinian committee to discuss a third troop
withdrawal, which the Palestinians had hoped to nail down
here.
Opening a Palestinian
airport in Gaza.
Providing safe passage for
Palestinians moving between Gaza and other Palestinian
areas.
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