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To: gmccon who wrote (32081)	4/18/1999 4:32:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116779

And on top of it all Arafat would declare Palestian Statehood and Bibi Netahnyahu would promptly annex Part of West Bank and close the borders and we would have complete disaster on our hands...What a BLJ

To: gmccon who wrote (32081)	4/18/1999 4:39:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116779

Palestinians seek U.S. assurances on peace process 04:50 p.m Apr 17, 1999 Eastern By Wafa Amr RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 17 (Reuters) - The PLO wants written U.S. assurances on reviving the stalled peace process with Israel in return for delaying declaration of a Palestinian state on May 4, Palestinian officials said on Saturday. Mahmoud Abbas, a senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official also known as Abu Mazen, is currently in Washington for talks with U.S. officials on the issue. The officials said he has demanded written U.S. commitments guaranteeing implementation of interim accords frozen by Israel and a new six-month to one-year timeframe for concluding talks on a permanent peace agreement. ''We also need commitments from the U.S. concerning suspension of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and Gaza,'' said Yasser Abed Rabbo, Palestinian minister of information and culture. A Palestinian negotiator said the U.S. administration has agreed to give Palestinian President Yasser Arafat a ''letter'' stating its position on the peace process and settlements. But, the negotiator said, Washington -- which has called on Israel to implement the suspended Wye River land-for-security deal and curtail settlement expansion -- has declined to set a new deadline for concluding so-called ''final-status'' talks. Arafat has frequently said he reserves the right to declare a state on May 4, the date set in interim peace deals for the conclusion of talks on a permanent peace agreement. The Palestinian leader has come under Arab and international pressure to put off the declaration to avoid intervention in Israel's May 17 general election. Palestinian officials said Abbas, who will be joined by colleague Saeb Erekat, will negotiate the contents of the U.S. letter with the aim of reaching a formula that would help Arafat persuade his leadership institutions to postpone the independence declaration. They said Abbas had asked the Americans to add in the letter a recognition of Palestinian self-determination but the United States has been unwilling to do so. Reluctant to take sole responsibility for a postponement, Arafat has called the 124-member Palestinian Central Council, the Palestinian mini-parliament in exile, to convene in Gaza on April 27 to take a decision on declaring a state. ''I do not thing the Central Council will reach a final decision on April 27,'' Abed Rabbo told Reuters, recommending the group debate the issue for at least a month. ''We should not take a hasty decision. We should give ourselves enough time to discuss such a major decision that has implications for the destiny of the Palestinian people,'' Abed Rabbo said. Similar proposals have been made by other Central Council members, although the trend within the Palestinian Authority has been to delay declaration of a state for at least another year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state would spell the end of the peace process and lead to Israel's annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited