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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 3, 1995                   TAG: 9502030086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT                                LENGTH: Medium

ISRAEL, PLO TO RESUME TALKS

After an unprecedented summit, Israel and its three Arab peace partners agreed Thursday to resume Israeli-PLO negotiations next week. They also set up a series of meetings to further the peace process.

Still, they came up with no new ways to stop attacks on Israelis by Muslim extremists.

Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization negotiators will meet again Monday in Cairo, while PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin will meet Thursday at a border crossing in the Gaza Strip, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa.

Jordan's King Hussein and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, along with Arafat and Rabin, also condemned terrorism and agreed to work toward a nuclear-free Middle East.

``The four parties condemned all the outbreaks of bloodshed, terror and violence in the region and reaffirmed their intention to stand staunchly against, and put an end to, all such acts,'' the leaders said in a statement read by Moussa.

The meeting represented a dramatic show of unity. But despite the declaration, disillusionment with the Israeli-PLO agreement runs deep, and the leaders' ability to stem murderous attacks by Islamic militants was uncertain.

Rabin and Arafat face dwindling popularity, and success of the agreement is crucial to their political careers. Israeli-PLO talks were halted after a Jan. 22 suicide bombing that killed 21 Israelis.

The four also agreed to convene a meeting Feb. 12 of the foreign ministers of Israel, Jordan and Egypt and a Palestinian representative in Washington with Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Before leaving Jerusalem, Rabin made it clear that an end to attacks on Israelis was the key to expanding autonomy in the West Bank and holding Palestinian elections, both elements of the Israeli-PLO accord signed in 1993.

Arafat's government must ``make sure the territory they rule - Gaza and Jericho - is not used as shelter, or a place to prepare, incite and execute attacks,'' Rabin told members of his Labor Party.

For their part, the Palestinians hoped Israel would reopen the Palestinian territories closed since a Jan. 22 bombing, said Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Irdeineh.

The Palestinians want Israel to begin withdrawing Israeli troops from Palestinian towns in the West Bank to make way for elections and the release of Palestinian prisoners. They also demand a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land - even as Israel is adding thousands of homes to the Jewish enclaves.

by CNB