Israel, PLO to resume talks Friday, Shaath says
CAIRO (AFP): Israel and the PLO are to reconvene talks today to try to meet an April 13 deadline for launching Palestinian autonomy, chief PLO negotiator Nabil Shaath said, rejecting current Israeli proposals.
Palestinian and Israeli officials reached the decision over the telephone yesterday morning, Shaath told AFP, even though Friday is traditionally a day of rest for Moslems.
Shaath dismissed current Israeli proposals for jurisdiction in the Gaza Strip and Jericho following the launch of Palestinian self-rule as "completely unacceptable" and a "flagrant violation" of September's autonomy accord.
The proposals were made during four days of autonomy talks which resumed here Sunday after a five-week suspension because of the Hebron mosque massacre in February.
The round of talks ended Wednesday when Israeli negotiators headed home to observe a Holocaust remembrance day yesterday.
Shaath criticized the decision to quit the talks early saying it would be difficult now to finalize an accord on launching autonomy by Wednesday.
Under the September accord signed in Washington, Israel was to have begun withdrawing its troops from Gaza and Jericho on Dec. 13 and completed the move by April 13.
The first deadline was missed, but PLO chief Yasser Arafat insisted in Jordan on Wednesday that the withdrawal take place in a week's time.
Talks have bogged down over a date for withdrawing Israeli troops and deploying a Palestinian police force, with PLO officials accusing the Israelis of withholding the date in a bid to squeeze concessions from them.
The PLO are keen to see the April 13 deadline implemented because it will be the first concrete evidence of the Washington accord.
Seven months after the signing ceremony Palestinians in the occupied territories have yet to feel the effects of the peace accord with Israel.
A failure to meet the deadline could seriously dent Arafat's credibility as a peacemaker and fuel hostility to the peace process among radical Palestinian groups.
Israel however, is faced with the problem of how to guarantee the safety of the hundreds of settlers in Gaza and Jericho living surrounded by thousands of Palestinians once the troops are withdrawn.
Veto
Shaath said yesterday that jurisdiction in Gaza and Jericho had been one of the main problems "creating a stumbling block in this week's negotiations."
He refused to reveal the full details of the Israeli proposals, saying they concerned the powers of Palestinian courts.
The Israelis wanted to know among other things who would be responsible for trying people arrested by Palestinian police.
A PLO negotiator said earlier Israel wanted the power to veto any legal decisions so they could overrule the Palestinian courts.
Shaath said the Israeli proposals "were a flagrant violation" of the Declaration of Principles. But the wording of the text remains vague about the extent of Palestinian jurisdiction.