Barak halts contacts with the Palestinians

The Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has announced halting of contacts and meetings between Israel and the Palestinian Authority until after the end of the Israeli elections.

Barak said in a statement released on Friday that all contacts were halted with the Palestinians including the contacts which were underway to convene a meeting between him and the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat next Sunday in Stockholm or Sharm al-Sheikh.

Barak was commenting on the killing of two Israeli settlers on Thursday and the beginning of the elections campaign between the Likud and the Labor party for the elections of the new Israeli prime minister. The Israeli radio reported.