Arafat sees no progress as he prepares for Albright
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 11/11/1997

Palestinian president Yasser Arafat accused Israel of having "no intention" of moving forward in the deadlocked peace process after failure of the latest round of negotiations in Washington.

"As we had expected, nothing was achieved," in the four days of high-level negotiations between the two sides which ended in Washington on Thursday, Arafat told journalists in Gaza city.

"It was clear that Israeli side does not intend to achieve anything or reach forward," he said.

Arafat made the comments upon his return to Gaza from Cairo, where he met briefly with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the way back from a conference in Brazzaville.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who mediated the Washington talks, is due to meet Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately next week in a bid to press them to break the statement in the peace process.

Her talks are expected to focus on winning an Israeli "time out" in settlement construction and implementation of long-promised troop withdrawals in the West Bank.

Previous Stories:
  Arafat not surprised by Israeli delays   (11/8/1997)
  Arafat's political advisor: Netanyahu deceives himself   (11/7/1997)
  Australia cancels Arafat's visit, causing anger   (11/4/1997)

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