The latest withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank could be postponed for several weeks, reports from Israel say.

The third phase of the withdrawal programme was due to begin next Thursday under the terms of the interim peace agreement signed with the Palestinians last September.

The latest hand-over would place about 40% of the West Bank under Palestinian control.

It now looks as if the details of the transfer will be worked out in Washington. In the coming week, the whole focus of Middle East peace-making will be in the American capital.

Talks between Syria and Israel resume and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak will meet Yasser Arafat, who has been invited over by President Clinton.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Jerusalem always have problems agreeing the details of the next redeployment.

Parallel talks

Israel says it alone has the final say on what territory it will leave. The Palestinians say it all should be a matter for discussion.

The last redeployment was also delayed, mired in disagreement almost until the moment that it happened.

At the same time, parallel talks are going on between the Palestinians and the Israelis on a final-status agreement - in other words, a definite peace aimed at settling the most contentious issues in the Middle East, like the future of Jerusalem.

The first deadline for a draft agreement on that comes up in a month. The two sets of negotiations are supposed to be separate, but inevitably they are overlapping.

They will need to be kick-started again in Washington, when the leaders of the two sides, with what's looking like the indispensable help of President Clinton and his team, sit down to thrash it all out for themselves.

Mr Arafat is also concerned that the Palestinians are being sidelined by the international attention that is now directed at the Syrian-Israeli talks.

Palestinians are worried that progress between the Israelis and the Syrians will weaken their position even further.