Arafat scorns Israeli peace effort

The Palestinian leader praised Mr Clinton's efforts

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has accused Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak of lacking the will to find peace.

Mr Arafat was speaking after three hours of talks with President Bill Clinton in Washington, aimed at making progress in the deadlocked peace process.

Mr Barak up to this moment lacks a desire to work with us in order to achieve a comprehensive lasting peace in the region

Yasser Arafat

The two sides are trying to achieve a final deal by 13 September, which would mean settling such contentious issues as the future of Jerusalem and the status of Palestinian territories.

Shortly after the talks ended, it was announced that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would be travelling to the region within the next 10 days.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said her aim would be "to assess whether a summit would be useful at this point or whether more work needs to be done".

Ms Albright's trip will follow a separate mission by US Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross, Mr Boucher told reporters.

Pessimism

The Washington talks appear to have offered little hope that the prevailing mood of pessimism can be broken.

Although Mr Arafat described his talks with Mr Clinton as "very fruitful", he blamed the Israelis for the lack of progress.

The West Bank has again become a stumbling block

"Mr Barak up to this moment lacks a desire to work with us in order to achieve a comprehensive lasting peace in the region," Mr Arafat told reporters.

He said an Israeli offer to free only three Palestinian prisoners was an "insult."

Mr Clinton said he did not believe the peace process was in danger of collapse, but he said: "I think it's an important moment and we have to keep working on it."

Impasse

There were further signs of the divide as Palestinian and Israeli negotiators working on one strand of the peace process suspended their talks.

Mr Barak's government is ignoring the peace process through the way they are handling important and sensitive issues

Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina

Palestinian officials said they were unhappy with the proposal to release only three prisoners, and accused Israel of dragging its feet on a scheduled third troop withdrawal from the West Bank.

The pull-out, which would leave the Palestinians in control of nearly all the West Bank, was agreed in 1993.

Palestinian officials have said they may reconsider their involvement in the peace process unless that happens by 23 June.

"Mr Barak's government is ignoring the peace process through the way it is handling important and sensitive issues," said senior Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.

But the Israelis say the Palestinians are interpreting the accords wrongly and are making unrealistic demands.

The expectations of the Palestinians are such that no Israeli Government will accept them

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy

"They interpret [the third withdrawal] as almost all areas except for certain security installations," said Mr Levy.

"That means Israel would give up all its security, political and national assets and then, if it didn't meet their demands on issues like [the return of Palestinian] refugees or Jerusalem, it would be left without peace and without assets," he added.

A second group of negotiators has been continuing its work on the so-called final status issues, which include the future of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements, and the borders and status of Palestinian territories.