Media in the Middle East report on the current mission to the region by US envoy Dennis Ross as he continues talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials aimed at reviving the peace process.

Palestinian radio reports meeting between Ross, Arafat

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told US envoy Dennis Ross in talks on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had "no excuse" for delaying further troop redeployment from the West Bank, Palestinian radio said.

Arafat expressed the hope that Netanyahu "would not use his domestic crises to confiscate lands and build settlements", the radio reported. "He stressed that Netanyahu does not have any excuse for delaying any further the redeployment from the Palestinian territories."

The two also discussed preparations for a meeting between Arafat and US President Bill Clinton scheduled for later this month, the radio said, quoting Palestinian official Sa'ib Urayqat. The talks also covered "unilateral Israeli measures", security and settlements.

Arafat and Ross are due to hold another meeting on Thursday in Ramallah, the radio added.

Palestinian radio interviews senior Palestinian negotiator on Ross peace tour

Palestinian radio broadcast a live telephone interview on Wednesday with Sa'ib Urayqat, senior Palestinian negotiator in the Middle East peace talks, who discussed the current mission by US envoy Dennis Ross. The following are excerpts from the broadcast:

[Q] It is premature to pass judgments on Ross's current tour, but have you sensed a new tone or a different US move through Dennis Ross this time?

[Urayqat] ... Regarding the deliberations of last night's meeting [with Arafat], Dennis Ross began his remarks by saying he is committed to the peace process and the four points on which agreement was reached. These points are redeployment, halting unilateral measures, security issues, and the final status negotiations.

He also said that President Clinton and Secretary Albright stress to President Arafat their commitment to these matters and that they will not allow the domestic Israeli crisis to obstruct movement in this direction.

President Arafat said we had experienced an entire year of Israeli excuses. Now they do not have any excuses; they endorsed the budget. Consequently, we will continue do to our best with the US administration to put the peace process back on track. This cannot be done without halting the unilateral measures, settlement activities, land confiscations and the imposition of the status quo.

The president pointed out many examples of the Netanyahu government's practices, the latest of which was the closure of Shuhada Street in Hebron. Besides, redeployment and other requirements of the interim agreement must be implemented as soon as possible. The president said it is high time we moved from discussions, procedural matters and meetings to implementation on the ground.

Dennis Ross informed the president that preparations are under way for the Arafat-Clinton meeting on 22nd January and that he wants to ensure the success of the meeting.

The Palestinian response through the president was that we, too, are interested in the success of the meetings. Success here means faithful commitment to what was agreed upon, practices on the ground and the implementation of the agreements as they were signed without any changes, alterations or any further procrastination.

[Q] Dr Sa'ib Urayqat, there will be another meeting between President Arafat and Dennis Ross on 8th January. Will deliberations on particular issues be held in the meantime?

[Urayqat] I know that there will be a meeting tonight between President Arafat and Dennis Ross.

[Q] This is a new piece of information.

[Urayqat] There will also be another meeting tomorrow. Mr Ross will continue moving between President Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu until Friday [9th January].

[Q] Do these successive meetings at very close intervals between Ross and President Yasser Arafat and the Israeli prime minister indicate that there are deliberations about specific issues, as I earlier asked?

[Urayqat] Naturally, the agenda is agreed upon. We said that the agenda comprises: first, halting the unilateral measures, such as settlement activities, land confiscations, the demolishing of homes, attempts to impose the status quo in Jerusalem, bypass roads and other unilateral measures; second, redeployment and other requirements of the interim agreement; third, security issues; fourth, the final status negotiations.

This is what we have on the agenda in accordance with what we are working on with Mr Ross and in accordance with what we worked on with Mrs Albright. We agreed on this agenda with Mrs Albright on 29th September 1997 when Abu Mazin [Mahmud Abbas] met David Levi, the resigning Israeli foreign minister.

[Q] Will this agenda remain the same in the expected Arafat-Clinton meeting?

[Urayqat] Yes, because we make progress through these issues; the halting of some, such as the unilateral measures, or implementation of others, such as redeployment and other requirements of the interim agreement, would put the peace process back on track.

Cairo paper predicts failure for Ross mideast mission

An Egyptian newspaper said on Wednesday that the current mission by US Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross to the region will end in failure.

Ross has previously made several shuttle tours to the region that "did not achieve anything worthwhile", `Al-Akhbar' newspaper was quoted as saying by the Egyptian news agency MENA .

Observers following Ross's mission "do not expect anything" from his current tour and say it will "end in nothing, just as the previous ones did", the paper was quoted as saying.

Ross's tour this time will "probably concentrate on discussing minor side issues" and "things that have no connection with the main issues of the peace process", the paper was quoted as saying.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©