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Barak, Arafat agree to meet with Clinton over Mideast crisis
Two Palestinians killed today
CNN Correspondents Fionnuala Sweeney and Rula Amin and CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report. JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The White House confirmed Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat will each meet separately with U.S. President Bill Clinton next week in an effort to salvage the unraveling Mideast peace process. Meanwhile on Friday, two Palestinians were killed as gunfire continued in Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Both sides said that violence had diminished, however, and that they were committed to putting an end to fighting.
In the past five-and-a-half weeks of violence, at least 181 people have died, most of them Palestinians. In clashes that followed Friday prayers, a Palestinian man was shot dead at Tulkarem in the West Bank. Another was killed in fighting at Hizme near Jerusalem. Despite the violence Friday, officials on both sides expressed some optimism. "Things are better than they were two days ago," said Nabil Sha'ath, a senior Palestinian negotiator. He accused the Israelis, however, of being "trigger happy" and firing into three West Bank towns. He added that "the violence is less than before; hopefully, the casualties will be as well." Alon Pinkas, chief of staff to Israel's foreign minister, said he was "optimistic in our chances to reach some kind of co-existence. But I am very, very cautious and I would say even skeptical, to think that a peace process in the kind and form that we have known for the last two, three, four years, can still go on in the same format." Arafat told CNN that he was waiting for the Israelis to make good on their commitments in the cease-fire brokered Wednesday night between him and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Arafat said he's done his part, "now I'm waiting for them to do their part." The Palestinian leader told CNN he was still hopeful about the peace process. Fighting in West Bank, GazaNear Bethlehem, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had come under machine-gun fire from Palestinians. Troops responded with tank rounds and machine guns, the IDF said. Palestinians said at least three houses were damaged in the tank fire. Meanwhile, fighting was reported in several West Bank towns. A clash broke out after a funeral in Hebron in which Palestinians tossed stones and Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas. At least two Palestinians were left in critical condition. In Ramallah, several dozen Palestinians were injured, at least one critically, in a confrontation in which the IDF said several of its troops had suffered injuries. About 200 Palestinians broke through a fence near an Israeli military outpost at Karni crossing in Gaza. The IDF said it had fired rubber-coated steel bullets during the clash and redeployed armored personnel carriers there. The IDF said while scattered fighting continued, it appeared that attempts were being made to implement the latest cease-fire. Palestinian officials canceled two planned marches in Gaza on Friday. On Thursday, Palestinian police moved to restrain rock-throwing demonstrators. Israel pulled back some tanks from around Palestinian areas. Steps taken after bombing
Security was tight in Jerusalem in the aftermath of a car bombing that killed two people Thursday near the popular open-air Mahane Yehuda market in west Jerusalem. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for that bombing. At the Al Aqsa Mosque, police barred Palestinian men under 45 from praying at Haram al-Sharif -- what Jews call the Temple Mount -- a site holy to both Jews and Muslims. In the past, young Palestinians have rioted. This time they stood in the street and prayed. 'Candid' talks with AlbrightSaeb Erekat, Arafat's chief negotiator, met with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Mideast envoy Dennis Ross and his team of U.S. mediators on Friday. Erekat told reporters after the talks that the discussions were "candid" and focused around efforts to calm the violence that has plagued the region and put an end to what he called the "siege" of the Palestinian people by Israeli forces. Erekat said that he told Albright that the issue of "international protection for the Palestinians is something that must be taken seriously by the United States and the international community." But he said that Albright was "not enthusiastic" about such an idea, which is being floated around the United Nations Security Council. He said that Albright "agreed to continue discussions" on the matter. RELATED STORIES: Hope remains for Mideast truce deal despite fatal Jerusalem bombing RELATED SITES: United Nations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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