Arafat criticizes expansion of Israeli settlement

The Palestinian president Yasser Arafat denounced the Israeli government's decision to expand the Maalia Abu Ghoneim settlement, one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying following his meeting with Terje Larsen, the UN special envoy to the Middle East, that this procedure contradicts with the signed agreements between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides.

On his side, Talab El-Sana, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, said that the Eilat peace talks shows the existence of a wide gap separating the Israeli and the Palestinian positions concerning the main final status issues.

El-Sana said the framework agreement concerning the final status issues is unreachable in the current stage in view of the pressure from the political right confronting the ruling coalition in Israel.