[Ramallah] United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is slated to propose ideas on how to bridge the gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians on the issue of Palestinian refugees, a senior source close to the final-status negotiations told The Media Line.
This step comes in the context of an American effort to persuade both sides to draft a document detailing progress made in the negotiations over the past seven months, since the process was launched in Annapolis, said the source, who asked not to be named.
The fact the negotiations are being held in strict secrecy makes it hard to gauge reactions from both sides who are not allowed to speak to the media.
Rice is expected to present the document in a Quartet meeting that will be held under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly in September in New York. The Quartet, which proposed the peace Road Map as the basis of negotiations, comprises the U.N., U.S., European Union and Russia.
Rice, who is fully apprised of details of the secret negotiations, is facing demands from many world leaders to show where progress has been made so far and whether there is a need for more time for negotiations if an agreement is not reached by the end of the year. U.S. President George W. Bush has set the year’s end as the deadline for an agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state.
Negotiations are held now on four levels: between Palestinian leader Mahmoud ‘Abbas and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, who theoretically meet once every two weeks; heads of the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams, Ahmad Qurei’ and Tzipi Livni respectively, who meet once or more a week; Palestinian Authority negotiator ‘Saib Ariqat holds regular conversations with Livni’s assistant, Tal Becker; and the joint committees of experts, who meet almost every day.
The two sides have made “considerable progress” on the issue of borders and security arrangements while the key issue of Jerusalem has yet to be tackled, the source said.
The Palestinian delegation headed by Qurei’ is already in Washington and will hold bilateral meetings with Rice and her team before being joined by Livni and her team, who will also have bilateral talks with Rice.
A trilateral meeting is slated for Wednesday when the parties will discuss the path of the negotiations to date and ways to push it forward.
Another trilateral meeting is being arranged for September in New York and a third on November 15 in Washington.
The State Department said it was not aware that a date had been set for talks on the refugees but said it is encouraging both sides to make progress.