Mood serious but 'not acrimonious' at Camp David talks

Israeli Prime Minister Barak, left, Secretary of State Albright, center, and Palestinian leader Arafat at Camp David in Maryland

Palestinians, Israelis hammer out issues with U.S. secretary of state

July 21, 2000
Web posted at: 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 GMT)

In this story: 'Symbols of sovereignty' Palestinians downplay proposal Barak 'talking tough' RELATED STORIES, SITES

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (CNN) -- The general mood at Camp David was serious on Friday, officials said, as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators again took on the issues that have kept them from peace for more than five decades.

With U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright substituting for President Bill Clinton as the U.S. mediator, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the delegations were diligently discussing the issues, determined to make some headway.

"Everybody is aware that we almost came to an end without an agreement the other night," said Boucher. "It's not jovial. It's not acrimonious. I think a serious mood is the best way to describe it."

ALSO Time: Clinton leaves Albright to contain summit damage War of words begins as parties react to Mideast summit news Arafat, Barak have good reason to prolong summit Old Jerusalem at epicenter of city's future Palestinians, Jews doubt peace deal is near    VIDEO Citizens of Jerusalem struggle to reconcile the irreconcilable about their city, according to CNN's Mike Hanna (July 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Palestinian refugees in Syria are skeptical about the talks, according to CNN's Rula Amin Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on how much progress the peace talks are likely to make in Bill Clinton's absence Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Citizens of Jerusalem agree they want peace, but according to CNN's Mike Hanna, they don't agree on how to achieve it in their city Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi reacts to the U.S. proposal concerning the seemingly intractable issue of Jerusalem (July 21) 2.3M/55 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     GALLERY Camp David peace summit and the people it affects: Photo gallery 1 Photo gallery 2     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     GRAPHIC Dividing Jerusalem for Peace

On Wednesday, hours before Clinton was to leave for the Group of Eight summit in Japan, the Mideast summit appeared to have reached a deadlock. The White House announced that the talks were over, but 90 minutes later, Clinton appeared before reporters to say that Israeli President Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had agreed to stay on while he traveled to Asia.

Officials said that Clinton may return from Japan earlier than scheduled to step back into the negotiations.

Boucher said the parties "met well into the night" on Thursday, after a buffet dinner that saw Arafat, Barak and Albright seated at the same table.

Boucher was quick to point out, however, that "it wasn't a working dinner."

"It was not a dinner to delve deeply into the issues," he said. "They talked about other things going on outside the confines of the negotiations."

'Symbols of sovereignty'

Albright began Friday morning meeting with her team, and was expected to meet again with Barak and Arafat later in the day. She met with both men twice, individually, on Thursday.

Away from Camp David, reports of a U.S. proposal to allow a degree of Palestinian control over some Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem surfaced, offering the latest chance of salvaging the contentious peace talks.

The U.S. proposal on Jerusalem is aimed at breaking the most serious impasse in the Mideast talks -- the status of an ancient city that both parties claim as their capital. Israel has demanded that it retain complete control over the city, while the Palestinians want the majority Arab areas of east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Michael Melchior, Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs, told CNN's Mike Hanna that the U.S. proposal "keeps the general idea that Jerusalem remains as the Israeli capital (a position Israel was not prepared to move from) but with the proposal that some Muslim areas on the outskirts of the city are symbols of sovereignty." ( 626 K/15 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Melchior said that "symbols of sovereignty" meant that these areas would be "places of extended self-rule" for Palestinians, but that those areas would not include the Old City, a section of Jerusalem that is home to holy sites of Jews, Muslims and Christians.

"What's being spoken of is a proposal that is definitely within the red line of the prime minister and therefore the prime minister agreed to the proposal," Melchior said on Israeli radio.

Palestinians downplay proposal

But while Melchior sounded positive about the latest proposal and other Israeli officials spoke of the "inevitability" of some Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashwari said the plan was simply "semantics" and knocked the minister for his public comments.

"We are not negotiating in public," Ashwari said on CNN Morning Edition. "I would say what he's talking about in terms of semantics is just telling the Palestinians they are willing to return to us some of the suburbs, which are ours anyway, in return for maintaining sovereignty over Jerusalem."

Such a deal would violate international law, Ashwari said, adding that the Palestinian view on sharing sovereignty was markedly different.

"The principle of sharing sovereignty means accepting Israeli sovereignty over west Jerusalem in return for sovereignty over east Jerusalem," the Palestinian spokeswoman said.

Members of the hard-line Islamic group Hamas burn an American flag in Nablus, the West Bank, to protest negotiations at Camp David

"There are still wide gaps," Ashwari said of the negotiations. "I don't think we can read very much into the American proposal, especially since it has not been made public."

Barak 'talking tough'

At Camp David, Clinton will return to talks where both sides are engaging the issue of the future of Jerusalem. Israeli sources say Barak is awaiting a response from Arafat on the U.S. proposal.

Israeli sources say Barak is talking tough, promising to leave if there is no breakthrough by Sunday. But that position is seen by others as ongoing pressure on Arafat to accept a deal.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, the European Union's Mideast peace envoy, said, "The Americans have been working very hard on giving ideas." While Moratinos said those ideas didn't qualify as "a formal proposal," a main focus is how to bridge the publicly stated positions on Jerusalem, which is known by the Palestinians as Al Quds.

"There is a whole package," Moratinos said. "There is the municipal, there is the periphery of Jerusalem, there is the holy places."

Despite the differences, Israeli and Palestinian sources and independent observers stress that the negotiations have gone a long way.

CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna, CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace, CNN Correspondent Jerrold Kessel andReuters contributed to this report.

U.S. proposal aims to break stalemate over Jerusalem in Mideast talks
July 21, 2000
Barak said to have accepted joint sovereignty in parts of East Jerusalem
July 21, 2000
Albright to step in for Clinton in Mideast peace talks
July 20, 2000
Mideast talks continue at Camp David as Clinton departs for economic summit in Japan
July 20, 2000
Final hours of Mideast summit tick down with no agreement in sight
July 19, 2000
Barak preparing to depart from Camp David without deal
July 19, 2000
White House expects Mideast peace summit to 'wrap up' by Wednesday
July 17, 2000
Camp David talks resume formally after Sabbath break
July 15, 2000
Clinton meets with Barak, Arafat at summit after U.S. withdraws proposals
July 14, 2000
Clinton returns to Camp David hoping to spur talks
July 13, 2000

The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Knesset - The Israeli Parliament
Palestinian National Authority Home Page
U.N. Information System: Palestine
Near Eastern Affairs: Middle East Peace Process
Camp David Accords
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.