Israeli, Palestinian negotiators will reconvene with Albright

JERUSALEM -- Israel is trying to build support in the Arab world for its position in negotiations with the Palestinians before U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visits the region Wednesday.

Israel Radio reported this week that Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy dispatched a senior ministry official to Morocco to explain Israel's stand on the peace talks. The station said senior ministry officials would also travel to Mauritania, Tunisia and Gulf Arab states.

The message they're carrying: Israel intends to carry out the Wye River accord and wants the final-status negotiations to begin as soon as possible.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to continue talks this week on the main sticking points holding up the implementation of the U.S.-brokered accord -- the release of Palestinian prisoners and a timetable for Israel to hand over to the Palestinians the remaining 11 percent of West Bank land it committed to in last October's agreement.

Palestinian officials said some progress was made in discussions this week, with the sides reaching agreement on the opening of a southern safe-passage route between the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Oct. 1, as well as the start of construction of a Palestinian seaport in Gaza.

While negotiators said details remain to be worked out, the agreement in principle shows that differences over Wye implementation are being narrowed.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat also said the sides had agreed to open a northern safe-passage route in January.

Sources in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office were quoted as saying that the deals on the seaport and safe-passage routes were both contingent on the rest of the differences between the two sides being resolved.

At the same time, senior Israeli political sources sounded a cautious note of optimism, saying on Tuesday that the two sides would probably agree on how and when to implement the Wye accord ahead of Albright's arrival.

The sources were quoted by Israel Radio as saying Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat would probably meet before Albright's visit.

Israeli media also reported that there may be a ceremony marking the start of final-status negotiations during the visit.

Palestinian officials were not overly optimistic. Hishad Abdel Razek, the Palestinian Authority official in charge of prisoner affairs, suggested that Israel might be trying to use the safe-passage route and seaport to extract concessions from the Palestinians on other aspects of the Wye accord.

The Israel government insists that the accord calls for the release of only 500 prisoners, with no reference to what type, and refuses to release any who have been involved in killing of Israelis or who are members of rejectionist groups. The Palestinians are calling for the release of security prisoners incarcerated before the 1993 Oslo agreement.

The two sides are also divided whether the withdrawal from 11 percent of the West Bank, as specified in the Wye agreement, should be concluded by Nov. 15, as favored by the Palestinians, or Feb. 15, as favored by Israel.

There is also disagreement whether final-status talks begin immediately, as favored by Israel, or at the end of the Wye implementation, as favored by the Palestinians. The Egyptians have called for a compromise -- that final-status talks begin after the next Wye withdrawal in October.

Up until now, Palestinians have linked the opening of a southern route to a resolution of the northern route from the Gaza Strip to the Ramallah area, which has stalled over Israel's insistence that the route terminate in the Latrun area. However, the Palestinians are now ready to open the southern route regardless of the impasse surrounding the northern one.

Once the southern passage is opened, Palestinians will be freer to travel through Israel on the road from the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip to the village of Tarkumiya, near Hebron.

Israel did take a notable step on Tuesday aimed at improving the economic condition of the Palestinians, reducing the age restriction for Palestinian laborers entering the country from 23 to 21. This is expected to increase the number of Arab workers from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to some 80,000.