Barak: 'Time running out' for peace

Barak was not optimistic after his meeting with Annan

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has warned that time is running out for the Middle Eastern peace deal.

The comments came in a statement made after a 10-minute meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York, where Mr Barak is to join world leaders for the UN millennium summit.

A statement released after the meting said the situation had reached "a critical junction, the opportunity is great, the danger is vast, and time is running out."

Asked whether the historic nature of the UN meeting could produce something Mr Barak answered: "I do hope and I pray, but I don't know."

US President Bill Clinton is expected to meet the Israeli leader on Wednesday followed by a separate meeting with the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Tug of war

Mr Arafat has said he will unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state on 13 September, but a senior Palestinian official has said this could change.

Jerusalem is not recognised internationally as Israel's capital

Faruq Qaddumi of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organisation said: "13 September is not a sacred date."

Mr Barak's government is also facing mounting pressure at home with parliament threatening the survival of his government when it reconvenes in October.

Both sides have had to rethink after talks at Camp David in July failed to produce a breakthrough in the deadlock over the status of Jerusalem.

Israeli negotiators travelling with Mr Barak said they had not seen any "flexibility or openness" from the Palestinians that could move the peace process forward.