Yasser Arafat, Meets Ehud Barak
Israel and the Palestinians failed to make progress today toward a looming deadline for an outline peace accord and both sides admitted the fragile peace process was in trouble. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak cancelled their press conference after a summit meeting fell apart over a land dispute.
Palestinian officials began drafting a statement to declare an independent state no later than September. "Today's meeting has reached a crisis," chief Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said after Arafat abruptly left the Erez border crossing following more than two hours of tense talks with Barak.
Earlier today, the Israeli cabinet approved the delayed hand-over of over 6% more of the West Bank to Palestinian control under existing interim peace deals.
