"Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who had planned to attend, boycotted the Egpyt meeting, saying there was no point in further negotiations."

http://foxnews.com/world/100500/mideast.sml

Talks in Paris Fail to Yield
Agreement to Calm Mideast
Thursday, October 5, 2000

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright attempted to keep the Middle East peace talks alive Thursday, meeting in Egypt with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after intensive negotiations in Paris ended inconclusively.

Jerome Delay/AP

Wednesday: Masked Palestinian gunmen stand guard near a funeral in the West Bank town of Hebron.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who had planned to attend, boycotted the meeting, saying there was no point in further negotiations.

Albright arrived in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as the Israeli army pulled tanks back from the entrances to Palestinian towns in the West Bank under a cease-fire agreed with the Palestinians.

She flew in to join Arafat and Mubarak after what U.S. officials called ``exhaustive'' discussions in Paris ended without a formal agreement to defuse tensions on West Bank and Gaza and end a wave of deadly violence.

U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, however, said, "There was a strong commitment by both sides to do all they could to calm the situation."

Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

Tuesday: Palestinian youths throw rocks at an Israeli army outpost in Netzarim junction.

The two sides agreed to try to create some separation between them at key flashpoints. ``Obviously this has to be translated on the ground,'' he added. At least 67 people — all but three of them Arabs — have been killed in a week of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and Arab towns in Israel.

Palestinians say it was sparked by Arab anger over a visit by Israel's right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a Jerusalem shrine holy to Muslims and Jews. Israel says the Palestinians used this as a pretext for the violence.

Arafat reportedly refused to sign any agreement that does not include establishment of an international inquiry into the killings.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Barak had not come to the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh because he felt he had done as much as he could with Arafat.

``If you ask me you have the beginning of a pretty serious process between the security people,'' he said.

Arafat Storms Out — But is Persuaded to Return

A diplomatic drive led by President Clinton to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement had lost momentum even before the recent violence, stalling after a July summit in Camp David, Md.

At one point during the Paris meeting, Arafat reportedly stormed out of the U.S. ambassador's elegant residence in central Paris but was persuaded to return by Albright running after him.

Enric Marti/AP

Wednesday: The body of 16-year-old Palestinian Sharif Faraj Ashur, who was killed in Israeli-Palestinian clashes, is carried for burial along the streets of Gaza city.

Witnesses said Arafat rushed out of the U.S. ambassador's residence and jumped into his car shouting, "This is humiliation. I cannot accept it!"

Albright, like Arafat clearly audible over a portable telephone on which a Palestinian negotiator was talking to a Reuters correspondent, ran out after him shouting to residence guards: "Shut the gates! Shut the gates!"

Once the gates to the courtyard were closed, Arafat got out of his car and returned to the residence for another meeting with Barak and Albright, the Palestinian negotiator said.

Prior to the meeting, Barak told Albright that Palestinians were violating agreements with Israel by acquiring illegal arms and shooting at soldiers and added that peace talks won't resume until the violence ends.

Earlier, Arafat had asked for a guarantee that his people would be protected and that an international inquiry be launched into violence on the West Bank and Gaza.

Jerome Delay/AP

Two Palestinian women cry at the funeral for a Palestinian man killed during clashes in Hebron.

Barak has rejected the idea of an international investigation, saying only that there would be an internal review within the Israeli military on the use of force and that information would be shared with the country's allies.

Fighting Continues

Meanwhile, shooting broke out again on Thursday at Netzarim Junction in the central Gaza Strip, the site of repeated clashes in recent days. Israeli troops came under attack and returned fire, according to Israel radio.

Five Palestinians were injured in the legs, according to Palestinian health officials. Some witnesses said the Palestinians threw stones and firebombs but claimed they did not shoot at the Israeli forces.

The clash was one of several small-scale skirmishes in the area. No major battles were reported as of mid-afternoon on Thursday, which appeared to be the least turbulent day since fighting erupted a week earlier.

Seven Palestinians died Wednesday, including a 13-year-old boy killed by Israeli fire in fighting at Netzarim Junction. In all, the fighting has left 65 people dead and more than 1,800 injured — most of them Palestinians.

In northern Israel, a large forest fire raged Wednesday, one of more than 100 blazes that police believe have been set by Arab arsonists. Most have been extinguished.

The State Department, meanwhile, issued a "worldwide caution" warning Americans to be vigilant about their personal security in light of the violence in the Middle East. These events "have raised the possibility that there may be protests in support of Palestinians throughout the Gulf region and elsewhere," the department said.

— Fox News' Greg Palkot in Paris, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report