ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997 TAG: 9701060133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JERUSALEM
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and Cox News Service
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat wrangled from midnight to dawn Sunday in a secret summit, but fell short of agreement on the issues holding up an Israeli troop withdrawal from Hebron.
Netanyahu said, ``We had and still have differences, but I think we made progress.'' The Palestinians, he charged, ``are trying to add issues that weren't on the table before.''
Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath termed the meeting ``very important [and] positive,'' but Arafat spokesman Nabil Abourdeneh said, ``We have not reached an agreement over the unresolved issues yet.''
With Egyptian backing, Arafat has held out for a fixed timetable for three further redeployments in the West Bank after the army withdraws from 80 percent of Hebron.
The original Israel-PLO accords foresaw Israel leaving rural areas of the West Bank by September 1997. But that was contingent on Israel leaving Hebron last March, and Israel now wants a further 18 months to carry out the three-stage redeployment.
Netanyahu stressed that he would not meet Arafat's demand to commit to a timetable for the wider withdrawal.
``I have said to Arafat that I am willing to give a starting date and a commitment to carry out the three redeployments provided, of course, that he carries out his own obligations,'' Netanyahu said.
Some reports have indicated Israel's next pullback after Hebron will be from the nearby town of Halhoul, but Netanyahu said the location was yet to be settled in negotiations.
Netanyahu also balked at giving in to the demand to post a Palestinian guard at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews as the burial place of their common forefather Abraham.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said on Israel radio's Arabic service that the ``problem does not lay in the negotiations but in a political decision by Netanyahu.''
``U.S. efforts to get Israel to specify a detailed timetable for redeployment in Palestinian rural areas has not been fruitful,'' Erekat told The Associated Press.
Neither Arafat nor Netanyahu, according to their public pronouncements, wanted to meet face to face until they were convinced a deal would result. But U.S. mediator Dennis Ross, the Clinton administration's special coordinator for Middle East policy, pushed hard for the encounter and urged that it be kept secret. News of the meeting leaked out within hours.
``I think the negotiations at the lower level have reached the end of their utility, and to bring it to closure, you've got to get the two leaders together,'' a member of the U.S. diplomatic team said.
In public, the Clinton administration is declining to assign responsibility for the long deadlock. Behind the scenes there are signs of increasing U.S. pressure on Arafat, who is seen by the United States and Israel as maneuvering for every last advantage.
Nabil Shaath, a senior minister in Arafat's self-rule government, criticized Ross over the weekend for losing his impartiality as a mediator.
U.S. officials are growing worried that Netanyahu, whose right-wing political base is eroding over the prospective Hebron withdrawal, could lose his cabinet majority for the deal, with unpredictable results. Netanyahu's government has encouraged that fear to stave off Arafat's final demands.
Netanyahu made clear that his key problem was political - a growing rebellion of right-wing and religious parties in his coalition. Getting approval from his 18-member Cabinet, he said, was ``becoming difficult'' and might be impossible if he gave in further.
This was affirmed by Arieh Deri of the religious Shas party, a partner in the ruling coalition government, who said his party would support a Hebron deal that prevented a Palestinian police presence in the Tomb of the Patriarchs and gave no fixed dates for further army pullbacks in the West Bank.
There were expectations that an agreement could be wrapped up within 48 hours, but Israeli officials were cautious, noting that there had been many reports of a pending agreement in the past three months. There were also reports that Netanyahu and Arafat might meet again, possibly today.
Israel army radio reported that Ross would consider ending his shuttle diplomacy if no agreement was reached soon. U.S. officials said they had no indication of any change in Ross' plans.
Israeli officials blamed Egypt for urging Arafat to dig in his heels on regarding a timetable and the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Arafat, Netanyahu. color.by CNB