
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 28, 1993                   TAG: 9312280147
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT                                LENGTH: Medium

ISRAEL, PLO RESUME TALKS AMID GLOOM

With time and opportunity running short for salvaging a peace agreement, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators returned to the table Monday still badly divided on how much territory the Palestinians will control when they raise the flag of autonomy in Jericho and the Gaza Strip.

Though Israel was said to have doubled the area it was prepared to turn over to Palestinian control in Jericho to 22 square miles, Palestinians were still demanding about four times that much and were skeptical about any major breakthroughs.

"Based on statements that have been made by high officials in Israel, I cannot expect any accomplishment in terms of narrowing the differences between us and the Israelis," Said Kamel, the Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to Egypt, said in an interview before the start of the talks Monday in Cairo.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who flew in with an Israeli delegation, said PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat will have to be more realistic for the talks to succeed.

"I very much hope that Arafat comes down from that tree he's climbed, because I am not bringing anything new with me," Peres said.

"I go to Cairo with lots of good will in order to bring about the implementation of the principles of agreement out of respect for the Palestinians. But I am not bringing anything new," the foreign minister said.

But after his meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa in Cairo, Peres was more diplomatic. "We would like to supply the Palestinian partners with the most we can in the way of dignity and perception, so that they will be able to run their own lives," he said.

"Let us not forget that the Palestinians will take an immediate responsibility for over one million people, and that is a serious responsibility."

by CNB