Israel and Palestinians sign peace deal

ISRAEL AND the Palestinians signed a new land-for-peace agreement in Egypt last night which will lead to a partial Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

The deal will see the release of 350 Palestinian prisoners and the turning over of 11 per cent of the West Bank to full Palestinian control. It opens two safe passages between Gaza and the West Bank and the construction of a seaport at Gaza.

The two sides have also agreed to complete negotiations on thorny issues such as the future of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements, Palestinian refugees, access to water, and a Palestinian state within a year. The Palestinians have promised not to declare an independent state for at least that long.

The agreement was finally reached after the Palestinians agreed Israel's terms on releasing prisoners. It was announced after Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, visited Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, in Gaza.

Mr Arafat and Ehud Barak, the Israeli Prime Minister, smiled and shook hands after signing the document in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. Mrs Albright, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan signed as witnesses.

Mr Barak said the deal offered them the chance to put a century of conflict to rest. "We must rise to the occasion and, for the sake of our mothers and fathers, children and grandchildren, turn this vision of a comprehensive peace into a lasting reality."

Mr Arafat said: "We assert, as we always promised, that we respect and implement our commitments."

US President Bill Clinton praised the latest agreement as a "stepping stone" to peace and called on Congress to approve $1bn (pounds 650m) in aid for Israel and the Palestinians.

The deal has its origin in the interim agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinians in 1995, which has been modified three times over four years. The last revision, the Wye River accord, was signed last October by Mr Arafat and Israel's right-wing previous prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who froze it two months later.

Mrs Albright spent yesterday seeing President Hafez al-Assad in Damascus. The Syrians, who are demanding the Golan Heights in return for a peace treaty, said they were disappointed by Israeli proposals. Syria says it was promised all the territory it lost in 1967 by the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

Mr Barak appealed to Mr Assad last night to put all past differences aside in the search for peace.

On leaving Damascus, Mrs Albright paid a surprise visit to Lebanon. Any agreement on the Golan Heights will also involve an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

A FALTERING STEP, PAGE 19