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Arafat conditionally accepts Clinton formula

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January 4, 2001 

WASHINGTON, JAN 3 (UNB/AP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gave President Bill Clinton his qualified acceptance of a U.S. formula for a negotiated settlement with Israel and the next move is up to Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.

In two meetings at the White House, Arafat "presented our position in a positive way," Hassan Abdel Rahman, the Palestine Liberation Organization's representative here, told The Associated Press.

"These were received by President Clinton, and it is now up to Mr. Barak," Rahman said.

Several Palestinian officials, speaking on condition they not be identified, said Arafat also agreed to 12 days of intensive negotiations with Israel.

There was no immediate reaction from Clinton administration officials, who gave no indication after the talks ended near midnight Tuesday that the huge gaps between Arafat's position on key issues and Clinton's outline had been bridged.

But White House spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters at the windup that Clinton had clarified his proposals in more than three hours of meetings with Arafat.

Barak said earlier Tuesday that with the violence persisting he was shifting his attention from the Clinton outline, which he had accepted last week, conditioned on Arafat's approval, to guarding Israel's security against attacks.

Clinton is up against a tight deadline, with only 17 days remaining in his term to try to conclude a peace accord between the two sides. It is his No. 1 foreign policy goal.

The proposal, presented to negotiators for the two sides before Christmas, was designed as a basis for another round of negotiations, and not as an agreement itself.

A senior U.S official said there was no clear-cut outcome Tuesday night. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it will depend on Clinton's follow-up talks with Barak and Arafat.

Siewert said Tuesday night that Clinton would call the prime minister early Wednesday and telephone Arafat in a day or two for more discussion.

Edward Abington, a former U.S. diplomat and now political consultant to the Palestinians, said: "My understanding is President Arafat has said he is accepting President Clinton's proposal with reservations."

Abington told the AP " I think it is a positive development if it sets the stage for intensive negotiations."

Stressing that an accord may still be hard to conclude, Abington said the issues facing the two sides remain very difficult.

At the end of Tuesday's meetings, Siewert said Arafat had renewed a promise to try to curb the violence that had swept away the good will needed for an accord.

"In the end, words don't matter here. Deeds do," Siewert said.

In focusing on security, Barak had said he saw no real chance of reaching a negotiated settlement in the next few weeks.

On containing conflict with Israel, Clinton scored some gains as Arafat "specifically agreed to end or stop or reduce acts of violence," Siewert said.

Specifically, he said Arafat had promised cooperation in countering terrorism, to intensify efforts to stop the shootings and to arrest those responsible. Since Mideast violence broke out three months ago, more than 350 people have died, mostly Palestinians.

In respect to stemming the violence, Siewert said, Clinton's meetings Tuesday with Arafat, one in the Oval Office and the other in a ground-floor library, were "particularly productive."

Arafat made no statement to reporters.

Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Arafat concentrated on the issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, insisting also on reconfiguring the Palestinian state that would emerge from an accord.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the incoming Bush administration was being kept informed of developments.

At a news conference in Austin, Texas, the president-elect said Clinton "is giving it the very best shot he can, and I certainly hope it works."

The Oval Office meeting gave Arafat another chance to seek more control in East Jerusalem than the U.S. plan suggested, a right for millions of Palestinian refugees to live in Israel and a more favorable configuration for a state.

And Siewert said the president "was able to give him a clear understanding of what those parameters are."

"He answered the questions that were asked in a way that was consistent with the parameters that we've laid down," the spokesman said, suggesting Clinton had not backpedaled on any front.

Lawrence Eagleburger, a former U.S. secretary of state, said he did not think Clinton and Arafat could reach an agreement.

"In a way, I don't even hope I am wrong because if they reach an agreement now, I think it will be a very flawed agreement and not one that can stand the test of time," Eagleburger said on CNN.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, praised Clinton for seeking a breakthrough but said the time had come to say unequivocally that "the peace process needs a fresh look under a new administration."

Hier, whose private group has 400,000 members, also called on Clinton to drop his proposal that Israel cede sovereignty over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians. In a statement, the rabbi said this backs Israel into a corner at a time when Israeli citizens are under terrorist attack.

Before the meetings, Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, was dubious that Clinton would achieve his goal.

"Personally, I don't believe that there is enough time to reach a comprehensive agreement before the end of President Clinton's presidency," Shaath said. "But (we are) exerting every effort to achieve progress in what is left" of Clinton's term.