AP - 10/20/98
QUEENSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Jordan's ailing King Hussein was joining Mideast peace talks today as Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators sought for a sixth day to break a deadlock over the West Bank. President Clinton canceled a fund-raising trip to
California to return to the talks at a Chesapeake Bay retreat.
''There are still gaps, significant ones,'' said State Department spokesman James P. Rubin.
Hussein, who signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, was to arrive at the Wye River conference center, about 70 miles east of
Washington, in the early afternoon, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said.
''We felt he could play a constructive role in the talks today,'' Lockhart said. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright issued the
invitation to Hussein, who has been in the Washington area in recent days and has been in touch by telephone with Albright and
others to offer his advice on the talks.
The involvement of the king, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and is the longest-serving ruler in the Middle East, could
symbolize that Arabs and Israelis can join together to overcome differences.
''We think he has the unique ability to bring home to the delegations the necessity for making peace,'' Rubin said.
Lockhart would not discuss the possibility of Clinton continuing the Wye talks beyond today.
''The president is determined and focused on helping the parties make the tough choices,'' Lockhart said.
A senior official said today that hard bargaining began with the meeting and dinner Clinton held Monday with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. But the ''negative side'' is still having to get agreement on the details.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said: ''And that is still not there yet. Some serious
problems remain all across the board.''
The talks, which began Thursday, were complicated by a terrorist incident Monday in which a Palestinian hurled two grenades into a
crowded bus stop in Beersheba, south of Jerusalem. Sixty-four Israelis were injured.
Even so, the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators pressed ahead at a Wye River conference center on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Aides kept to their practice of not commenting on the substance of the talks, but described them as ''workmanlike.''
Clinton, who has invested some 44 hours of his time in the marathon negotiations so far, stayed with Netanyahu and Arafat until
nearly midnight, then flew back to the White House. He was returning to Wye today and left open the possibility of continuing the
negotiations on Wednesday.
''Given the importance of the issues at hand, the president, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat believe it is appropriate
to stay and continue to work on these important issues,'' Lockhart said.
But in a more sobering assessment just before Clinton was due to resume his personal mediation today, Rubin said the
administration would declare a windup ''when we have concluded we've done all we can do.''
At the same time, the negotiations moved ahead. Despite warning it would not negotiate on nonsecurity issues after a terrorist
attack back home, Israeli officials held talks on establishing a ''safe passage'' for Palestinians between Gaza and the West Bank.
The last-minute decision to scrap the two-day California trip, in which Clinton was to raise money for the campaigns of Sen. Barbara
Boxer and other congressional candidates, came as the president settled into a long night of talks Monday with the Israeli and
Palestinian leaders. After a 2 1/2-hour meeting, Clinton, Netanyahu and Arafat and top aides sat down to a dinner of lamb and fish.
Lockhart described the atmosphere at the late-night meal as cordial.
''It's not a waste of time,'' Rubin said Monday evening of Clinton's decision to scrap his California fund-raising trip to keep the Wye
talks going. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who has not left the 1,100-acre Wye River compound since the talks began, was
staying overnight again, Rubin said.
The talks originally were to have ended by Sunday.
The key sticking point has been Israel's demand for stronger Palestinian assurances to crack down on terrorist attacks on Israelis
as part of a deal in which Israel would withdraw from a further 13 percent of the West Bank that Israel has held since the 1967
Middle East War.
Among other issues are a proposed Palestinian airport, ways to provide easy and safe passage for Palestinians between Gaza and
the West Bank and economic development in the area.
The Wye talks are a crucial juncture in the long-stalled Mideast peace talks because of the political capital Clinton has invested in
their success, and because the parties face a May 4, 1999, deadline; if there is no West Bank deal by then, Arafat says he will
unilaterally declare a Palestinian state -- a move of potentially explosive consequences for the region. |
