Israel makes offer on Jerusalem suburbs

Negotiators remain far apart over Jerusalem's future

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has said publicly for the first time that he would like to hand over control of three West Bank suburbs of Jerusalem to the Palestinians in the coming months.

Mr Barak was speaking after a meeting late on Sunday with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"The question is not if, but when it is right to do it. In our opinion, it is right to do it within the next few months and maybe within the next few weeks," Mr Barak told Israeli army radio.

Ehud Barak faces internal opposition

Meanwhile, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad began talks with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Monday, focusing on the deadlock in the Middle East peace process and Israel's latest raids on Lebanon.

Syria is the main foreign power broker in Lebanon, where it has deployed 35,000 troops and backs the Hezbollah guerrillas fighting the Israeli occupation of a border strip in the south.

The Ramallah meeting followed a week of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the Red Sea port of Eilat.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were discussing the key issues of borders, the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlements, in an effort to meet the 13 September deadline for a final peace deal.

No timetable

Mr Barak did not specify when the Palestinians would be allowed to take over full control of Abu Dis, Eizariyeh and Sawahreh.

Assad is in Egypt to discuss the peace process

They currently have administrative control over the three suburbs, but Israel remains in charge of security.

The Israeli prime minister dismissed criticism by hardliners, including members of his own coalition, that the transfer would weaken Israel's control over east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital.

The gaps are large, very large. We shouldn't fool ourselves

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy

But he cautioned that it could take several more weeks or months before he approved the transfer, citing political difficulties.

The Israeli Foreign Minister, David Levy, said the two sides might not be able to conclude the broad outlines of a final peace treaty by 13 May as they had hoped.

But he added that they were determined to complete a full accord by the September deadline.

'Large gaps'

"Both sides gave their teams a green light to continue," Mr Levy told Israel radio. "The gaps are large, very large. We shouldn't fool ourselves."

The senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, also said on Monday that the situation was "very difficult and complicated" and "the gaps are great".

Israel has suggested Abu Dis as a future Palestinian capital

The US special envoy, Dennis Ross, was meeting chief negotiators from both sides on Monday before flying home to brief President Bill Clinton.

Mr Arafat has said he aims to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by September, whether a peace treaty is finalised or not.

Israel has so far returned about 40% of the West Bank and much of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian control.

Mr Barak said most of the areas that were now under joint Israeli-Palestinian control would eventually come under full Palestinian rule.

The Palestinians demand that Israel hand over all the territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.