Ross starts a new tour in the Middle East

Dennis Ross, the US peace envoy, started a new tour of the area to bring the peace process in Middle East out from its current crisis.

Ross arrived in Israel today at the beginning of his tour of the area's countries, during which he will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat aimed at motivating the peace process on the Palestinian - Israeli track.

Israeli sources in Cairo stated that there is an Israeli readiness this time to make slight modifications to maps of the Israeli withdrawal from 6.1% of the West Bank's lands, yet without including areas in Jerusalem.