It looks like a deal is done on interim Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 9/29/1998

US President Bill Clinton met today with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the White House where early signs indicate that a deal has been struck for the long-overdue second phase Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories.

President Arafat after the meeting said that talks, some of which took place yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, focused on the (Oslo) agreement that "we have signed" and "we have to follow up to implement."

Arafat added that he accepted the 13% withdrawal by Israel where 3% would be set aside for a "nature reserve." Israel has insisted that this three percent be controlled by Israeli security forces. Arafat said his acceptance of this issue is conditional on Israel allowing security control to be arranged in a similar manner as that of "Area B" type arrangement (Palestinian civil control with Israeli security control).

Unless Israel chooses to create new claims for civilian control over this three percent area, the implications are that an agreement has been reached between the Palestinians and Israelis on the second phase of land withdrawal that needs to be completed in order to start the third and final phase of Israel withdrawal from Palestinian lands, which is followed by "final status negotiations" that deal with such issues as the announcement of a Palestinian state, the status of the city of Jerusalem and the status of Palestinian refugees.

Arafat and Netanyahu will be heading back to Washington in mid-October for what looks like a signing ceremony.

Arafat stressed that "peace is a Palestinian need, an Israeli need, an Arab need, an international need," adding that the Palestinian problem has always been at the heart of the Arab - Israeli problem and that the region's "atmosphere" changes based on whether or not there is progress in this regard.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said today's talks between the US and Palestinian president focused on "the level of economic assistance" that will be there for Palestinians and on a working group for the development of bilateral relations.

Previous Stories:
  Clinton: We made significant progress with Arafat and Netanyahu   (9/28/1998)
  Shaath: Arafat and Netanyahu are to visit Washington   (9/25/1998)
  No plans defined for redeployment, intelligence report Sunday   (12/12/1997)

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