Slow going at Mid-East talks

Israeli soldiers take up position during Hebron clashes

There are no signs of progress at a critical summit aimed at ending the bloodshed in the Middle East in spite of a warning from US President Bill Clinton that it cannot afford to fail.

Differing agendas

Israelis:

Arafat to order immediate halt to violence

Rearrest of Hamas militants freed from jail

Repair of desecrated holy sites

Palestinians:

International inquiry into violence

Israel to pull forces back from Palestinian-controlled areas

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are meeting Mr Clinton and other world leaders to try to halt the violence in which more than 100 people - most of them Palestinians - have died in less than three weeks.

But as the summit got under way in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, there were further outbreaks of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in which two Palestinians are reported to have been killed and more than 50 others wounded.

Mr Clinton, who is in the final months of his presidency, said it was time to "move beyond blame". He spelled out his aims for the summit:

• End violence and restore security co-operation
• Set up balanced factfinding mission into the violence
• Revive the peace process.

'Don't give up'

Mr Clinton urged both sides to remember how far they had come since 1993 when they agreed to restart the peace process.

Violence broke out across the West Bank and Gaza as talks began

"We shouldn't give it all up for what has happened in the last few weeks," he said.

"And what has happened in these last few weeks reminds us of the terrible alternative to continuing to live in peace and to continue in the peace process."

Despite Mr Clinton's appeals, there were signs that the summit might go into a second day.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the two sides were still entrenched in their differing views, and he accused the Israelis of wasting time on unrelated issues.

However, Mr Barak's chief adviser, Danny Yatom, said that talks were still going on at foreign minister level while the leaders held a short recess.

'Intransigent and venemous'

The difficult atmosphere of Sharm el-Sheikh was highlighted ahead of the talks, when both sides traded accusations.

Summit leaders

Israeli PM Ehud Barak

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

US President Bill Clinton

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

EU envoy Javier Solana

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Jordan's King Abdullah II

After a meeting with Mr Mubarak, Mr Barak complained that Mr Arafat had "voluntarily and knowingly directed the violence" of recent weeks.

Mr Barak also told the Egyptian president that Israel would only withdraw its forces from Palestinian areas if Mr Arafat rearrested the Islamic militants he had just released from jail.

For the Palestinians, Planning Minister Nabil Shaath accused the Israelis of being intransigent and venomous.

Bill Clinton: "Future of the peace process is at stake"

"This is a state of mind of an occupier in no way conducive to making this summit a success, I'm afraid."

The Palestinians have come to the table seeking an international inquiry into the causes of the recent violence.

However, Israel would prefer a US-led inquiry and has voiced fears an international probe would be tantamount to what one Israeli official called a "kangaroo court".

Violence erupts

Despite the latest efforts to end the violence, renewed fighting broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Monday as Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian protesters.

Many Palestinians are opposed to the emergency summit

In the West Bank, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy is reported to have been declared clinically dead after being shot during clashes in Bethlehem, while another 11 people were injured.

Another 15 people were said to have been injured in clashes with Israeli troops in Ramallah, two of them seriously.

In Hebron, at least eight Palestinians were said to have been wounded in confrontations with Israeli soldiers guarding Jewish settlers in the town.

And in a fierce gun battle in the southern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Egypt, a Palestinian policeman was reported to have been killed by a bullet in the head, and another 38 protesters were wounded.

Hospital officials also reported that 23 protesters had been hurt in clashes with troops guarding the Jewish settlement at Gush Katif.