Palestinian - Israeli negotiations

The Palestinian negotiating delegation chaired by Saeb Erekat and Mahmoud Abass (Abu Mazen) held a meeting today in Jerusalem with an Israeli delegation chaired by Talat Shinder, the legal consultant of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, to discuss the timetable for the implementation of the Wye River accord.

Barak's spokesman said there is optimism about reaching an agreement soon, while Erekat said that the gap is still large and that the US should pressure Barak to implement the Wye River accord and other agreements.

At the same time, the Palestinian government strongly opposed the statements of Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, in which he called on the Palestinians to abandon the Wye accord and to start the final status negotiations with the Israelis, as Palestinian officials described the statements as an Israeli attempt to evade the agreements and the obligations of the transitional phase.