Middle East peace talks suspended

TABA - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak recalled his top negotiators from peace talks with the Palestinians in Egypt yesterday after the bodies of two Israelis were discovered in the West Bank.

Barak's office said he had recalled cabinet ministers Shlomo Ben-Ami, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Yossi Beilin - who are heading the Israeli team at the talks - for consultations.

Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Ephraim Sneh, said the two Israelis were restaurant owners from Tel Aviv.

Accompanied by an Israeli Arab business acquaintance, they had been shopping in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Tulkarm for produce for their restaurant.

They were seized while eating lunch and the two Israelis were shot dead and their bodies dumped by the side of a road. The Israeli Arab was freed.

- REUTERS

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