USA: BILL CLINTON ANNOUNCES MIDDLE EAST SUMMIT
(5 Jul 2000) English/Nat The Clinton administration will host a new Middle East peace summit next week. U-S President Bill Clinton announced the summit at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday. He said Israeli President Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would meet at Camp David - the scene of a historic Mideast peace agreement - in the hope of clearing the way for another landmark treaty. In a high-risk bid to bring peace to the Middle East, U-S President Bill Clinton announced that Israeli and Palestinian leaders would meet at the Camp David presidential retreat next week to try to reach an accord by mid-September. After seven years of negotiations, Clinton said the two sides were at an impasse and that the issues were more complex than on any other Mideast negotiating front. SOUNDBITE: (English) "After a lengthy discussion with the two leaders, and after listening to Secretary Albright's report, I have concluded that this is the best way, indeed it is the only way, to move forward." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President He said that if enough work was done, an agreement could be reached within days, although he didn't impose a specific timetable. Clinton said both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat endorsed his approach as the last best chance of shaping a settlement. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Etched in each side's mind are intense fears and emotions and a deep-seated commitment to defend their peoples' interests. There are no easy answers and certainly no painless ones and therefore there is clearly no guarantee of success." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President With six months of his term in office remaining, Clinton hopes to make a Middle East peace agreement part of his presidential legacy. But his efforts have been slowed by traditional Arab-Israeli enmity. Clinton's venture mirrors former President Jimmy Carter's hosting of a summit at Camp David in 1978 between the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The result was a peace treaty in the following year - the first between Israel and an Arab nation. Clinton praised Arafat and Barak for agreeing to the summit and said courage was required from both of them, as well as a realisation that neither could have all his demands satisfied. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Significant differences remain, they involve the most complex and most sensitive questions. The negotiators have reached an impasse. Movement now depends on historic decisions that only the two leaders can make. I will be there with them and I intend to do all I can to help them in this endeavor. But to delay this gathering, to remain stalled, is simply no longer an option." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President The announcement followed an intense effort by Clinton and his advisers to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
