World

Mideast Talks In 'Full-Court Press'

September 11, 2000 / 3:17 PM EDT / AP

Senior Israeli and Palestinian negotiators returned to the negotiating table at the request of President Bill Clinton to try again to arrange a settlement.

"We are giving it the full-court press," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, using a basketball analogy.

With the two sides deadlocked over Jerusalem's future, the Clinton administration appeared to be staking out a more aggressive role. But Albright told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee "unless the leaders, themselves, make the final decisions, we cannot do that for them."

Reiterating the oft-sounded warning that time was running out to conclude a deal, Albright said "we are clearly in the end-stretch here."

At the White House, meanwhile, spokesman Joe Lockhart said "we continue to play a role in trying to bridge the differences between them."

"I think it's obviously very important for these discussions to continue, particularly at the leader level," Lockhart said.

The Israeli delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, and the Palestinians' by senior negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat held a nighttime meeting Monday in Jerusalem in an apparently friendly atmosphere but did not make any concrete headway toward an agreement, officials on both sides said in Jerusalem.

Barak's senior adviser, Danny Yatom, said the talks were general: "We did not have negotiations."

But Ahmed Qureia, the Palestinian parliament speaker, told The Associated Press that "it was a very constructive meeting that created a new atmosphere between the two leaders, and I believe it will have the effect on public opinion on the peace process on both sides."

He said Barak and Arafat had promised to "do their best to reach an agreement." But he said none of the issues were discussed.

Lockhart said Barak had called Mr. Clinton Tuesday with a 10-minute summary of the meeting.