MIDEAST/UK: DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS CONTINUE IN MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS
(18 May 1998) English/Nat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday denied reports that he had agreed to U-S demands to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank. On his return from Washington where he held negotiations on the stalled peace process, Netanyahu said there'd been no breakthrough over the issue. And after hastily arranged meetings in London between U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in London, both sides gloomily reported that there had been no progress in the peace talks. Back in Israel on Monday after meetings in the U-S on the Arab-Israeli peace process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a news conference to give details of his Washington trip. Netanyahu denied rumours that he had bowed to U-S pressure and agreed to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank. He said there had been no breakthrough in the negotiations. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We had serious discussions. We had some new ideas that were discussed now in Washington that were not discussed before. It is too early to say whether this will provide a breakthrough. We are in constant touch with the United States. As you know, Secretary of State Albright is meeting with Mr Arafat now. I hope that these new ideas can be carried forward." SUPER CAPTION: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister The Israeli leader said any initiative must come from the Palestinian side, which he claimed had yet to fully accept the Jewish state's right to exist. SOUNDBITE: (English) "There has to be a real acceptance of the existence of the State of Israel. Not only of the fact of its existence, but of its right to exist. And I think that is the main stumbling block to peace. When there is a full change of heart. When the Palestinians educate, when the Palestinian leadership stands in front of the Palestinian public and says 'It is over. The covenant is over.' The PNC meets and says 'The covenant is over, Israel is here to stay'. I would say that would do more to advance the talks and to advance a breakthrough than any talks that we might have in London or anywhere else." SUPER CAPTION: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister The Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat made an unexpected visit to London on Monday. After a hastily arranged meeting with U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and a 40 minute session with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, Arafat announced that the latest efforts to find a way through the impasse in the peace process had been in vain. But he praised Albright's work in trying to move the negotiations forward. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic with sequential English translation) "Unfortunately, Mr. Netanyahu has not offered anything tangible for Mrs. Albright. We are expecting the continuation of European and American endeavours, and I will stay in touch with the Secretary of State Mrs. Madeleine Albright. And she is deploying all her best endeavors in order to achieve some results." SUPER CAPTION: Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Authority Chairman U-S State Department Spokesman James Rubin, who also took part in the London talks, was equally bleak. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The Secretary described the difficulties that we are trying to overcome. Chairman Arafat, as you know, has agreed in principle with the U-S ideas, and we have been working on them with Prime Minister Netanyahu on refinements. And I cannot say that we have achieved a breakthrough. On the contrary, we are working through the problems." SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, US State Department Spokesman 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...
