Israeli, Palestinian talks to resume

JERUSALEM - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to reconvene early tomorrow evening (NZDT) in the latest bid, as hopes dwindle, to thaw frozen peace talks before President Clinton leaves office in one week.

Palestinian officials close to the talks told Reuters that negotiators would meet at 6pm Sunday at an undisclosed location to try to reach an understanding on Clinton's ideas for a peace agreement.

But the U.S. leader himself conceded on the eve of the new talks that the odds were stacked against a peace deal by the time he leaves office.

The scheduled talks follow an inconclusive meeting on Friday night between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at the Gaza Strip's Erez crossing, after which the Israeli side voiced pessimism over the chances of reaching agreement in the near future, saying the gaps were still too wide.

After a lull in 15 months of violence that has left more than 360 people dead, the great majority Palestinians, the Israeli army said its soldiers killed a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday after a grenade was thrown at them and they came under fire.

The army identified the man as a Tanzim activist, a term it uses to describe militiamen in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction. It said the body would be handed over to Palestinians after undergoing Israeli security force "checks."

Palestinian officials in the divided town confirmed Shaker Hassouni, 22, was a Fatah member but denied he was armed at the time of the killing. They accused Israel of assassinating him "in cold blood."

The Israeli army has targeted and killed a number of Palestinians who it says carry out or planned to launch attacks on Israelis, but denies it pursues a policy of assassinations.

A witness at the scene told Reuters some 50 Jewish settlers emerged from a Jewish-owned property in the town as troops were dragging the body away and celebrated Hassouni's killing by giving the soldiers sweets.

Clinton played down hopes that his peace blueprint might lead to a substantive Israeli-Palestinian agreement before he hands over to President-elect George W. Bush on January 20.

"Whatever happens will be the responsibility of the next administration and the winner of the Israeli elections, whoever that may be," Clinton told Reuters aboard Air Force One.

Israel holds a prime ministerial election on February 6. Opinion polls on Friday showed right-wing challenger Ariel Sharon maintaining his double-digit lead over Barak.

Israeli negotiator Amnon Lipkin-Shahak expressed pessimism after taking part in the late-night negotiations on Friday that the sides could reach a deal in the near future.

"I don't see a real chance to reach, certainly not in the coming week which is the last week of (U.S. President Bill) Clinton's period of office... an overall agreement," he told Israel's Channel One television today.

"I think it will also be difficult to achieve even a framework agreement that will answer all the central questions because the gaps between the two sides are very wide," he said.

Arafat was cautious after Thursday's talks.

"We are still discussing what happened in that meeting and will make a report in that regard," he told reporters after Friday prayers in Gaza.

At a Stockholm news conference, PLO cabinet minister Nabil Sha'ath urged the European Union to raise its profile in the peace process during the U.S. presidential transition.

Clinton's peace ideas include Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank and Gaza and Palestinian renunciation of the right of its millions of refugees to return to homes in Israel.

One proposal is for a degree of shared sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem - anathema to many on both sides. Despite intense domestic opposition in Israel to Clinton's plan, Barak's government has accepted it as a basis for talks.

Clinton said in the interview that the Palestinians "have now agreed in principle with the parameters."

Israeli officials have spoken of the possibility of a declaration of principles that would fall short of a full agreement but would chart a course for the Bush administration

The Israeli army eased some restrictions on Palestinian areas after the two sides held security talks and the level of violence in a 15-week Palestinian uprising had lessened.

But hospital sources said another two Palestinians were wounded on Thursday in a confrontation between stone-throwing protesters and Israeli troops in the West Bank village of al-Khader near Bethlehem.

Two Palestinians convicted of giving Israel information that allegedly led to the killing of five Palestinian activists are due to be executed today after Arafat ratified death sentences handed to them by security courts.