Steve Quayle News Alerts

July 15, 2002
By GREG MYRE, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - With a new round of Mideast diplomacy opening this week, Arab nations will present a plan calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state, followed by a two-year period to work out the final borders, a diplomatic source said Monday.

The talks that open Tuesday in New York are an attempt to revive Mideast peacemaking that collapsed more than a year ago amid persistent violence, and will include diplomats from the United States, the United Nations, Europe, and Russia, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

With Israel's army occupying most Palestinian cities, and Palestinian militants attempting to carry out daily attacks, prospects for major breakthroughs appear dim.

The Arab plan, worked out in conjunction with the Palestinians, calls for Palestinian elections for a new leader and parliament in January as part of a broader reform effort, the source said.

Shortly after the balloting, the Palestinians would seek United Nations recognition for a state based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast war, the diplomatic source said.

If the United Nations recognized a Palestinian state, the Israelis and Palestinians could then begin negotiations on final borders. There would be a one-year deadline to negotiate an agreement, followed by a second year to implement the deal, the source added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia held secret talks last year that included similar ideas, but it was never formally introduced amid the ongoing fighting.

It is not clear whether the latest proposal would receive a better reception this time.

Meanwhile, after a week of sharp criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 's Cabinet changed its position Sunday and decided not to support legislation that would prevent Arab citizens from buying land in some Jewish communities.

But the issue has not been fully settled, and Sharon said he and his government still support the idea of allowing religious and ethnic groups to have their own communities.

With respect to the statehood plan, the Palestinians have sought a deal that would create a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, which include all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with a capital in east Jerusalem. They have been extremely wary of any interim agreements that leave the border issue and other key questions unresolved.

Sharon has often said that he does not believe a final agreement is possible at present, and the most that could be achieved is a long-term interim arrangement that would be in place for years, perhaps even a decade or more, before a final agreement is reached.

Sharon has also said that Israel will never pull back to the 1967 borders, which he and other Israeli leaders describe as insecure for Israel.

In addition, President Bushand Sharon have demanded that Yasser Arafat be replaced as the Palestinian leader, and that sweeping Palestinian reforms be implemented before serious peace negotiations can resume.

But Arafat has said he will not step down.

In renewed violence Monday, Israeli troops tossed an explosive device inside a factory in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, igniting a fire that killed a Palestinian man, according to Palestinian witnesses.

The troops initially prevented a Palestinian fire engine from approaching, but then allowed two Israeli fire trucks to extinguish the blaze, the witnesses added. About 20 workers were inside the building at the time, and all managed to escape expect the one who was killed, the witnesses reported.

The Israeli military said it was checking the report.

The army also said it arrested 10 Palestinians in the West Bank who were suspected of involvement in violence against Israel. Palestinians said a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad, Ghassan Saadi, was arrested when soldiers stormed a hideout in the Jenin refugee camp overnight. The army said it was checking the report.

In the Gaza Strip, about 500 unemployed Palestinian workers demanded jobs during a protest in which the marchers were critical of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The workers, who marched outside the U.N. refugee office in Gaza City, said they lost their jobs in Israel when the Gaza Strip was sealed off following the outbreak of the violence in September 2000. And the marchers denounced corruption in the Palestinian leadership.

"The Palestinian workers are victims of the (Israeli) occupation and victims of (Palestinian) corruption," read one banner.

Meanwhile, the former leader of Israel's largest religious party hinted at a return to a prominent public role Monday as he was released from jail after serving almost two years for a conviction on bribe-taking.

An emotional Arieh Deri left a prison in central Israel after a parole board decided last week to reduce his sentence by a third. Deri was instrumental in making Shas the third largest political party in Israel, with its supporters coming largely from Jews of Middle East origin.
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