Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 10, 1994 TAG: 9402100099
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT LENGTH: Medium
Peres said he and the PLO chairman had settled "five or six of the most complicated issues" involved in turning over control of the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank town of Jericho to the Palestinians.
But Peres added, "We didn't complete our work."
The final deal is to be negotiated between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The two sides were haggling over control of the crossings from the autonomous Palestinian areas to Egypt and Jordan, security for Jewish settlers who remain in Gaza and how much land around Jericho the Palestinians would control.
Among the issues left for Arafat and Rabin to decide was the size of the Jericho area, Peres said.
Still, Arafat said the new pact was "a very important step to implement the agreement from paper to the ground."
"We can say that Palestine - and the name of Palestine - has returned to the map of the Middle East."
Peres and Arafat initialed a 21-page document, complete with maps, at a ceremony with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the end of three days of talks.
As the two were speaking in Cairo, members of the World Jewish Congress in Washington got word of the agreement from President Clinton.
"Another big milestone has been achieved today," Clinton said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa had worked late into the night to smooth over last-minute disputes between Peres and Arafat, amid reports Peres was seeking approval from Rabin.
Neither Arafat nor Peres has given details on the talks.
The Israeli withdrawal will clear the way for limited Palestinian self-rule in the territories.
The withdrawal was to have begun Dec. 13, according to the PLO-Israel peace accord signed in Washington in September.
Uri Savir, the chief Israeli delegate, described the negotiations as a process of working "sentence by sentence, word by word."
"For each word, we have an hour of argument," he said.
Negotiators have repeatedly said any agreement reached in Cairo will almost certainly contain some sensitive problems to be settled later by Arafat and Rabin.
Israeli and PLO officials both have said it could take at least two more weeks of negotiations to complete specifics.
by CNB