Israel says No to plan for peacekeepers

Israel has said it rejects a Palestinian proposal for an international peacekeeping force to replace Israeli troops in areas of the West Bank where Israel aims to retain control.

A senior Israeli spokesman David Bar-Illansaid the proposal was not new, and he dismissed it as a non-starter.

Details of the Palestinian plan were released on Friday by a senior official, Saeb Erekat, who said the it would be presented to President Clinton next month by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service