As the crucial Middle East peace talks continue at Camp David in the United States, Israel has told its American ally that it has cancelled the controversial sale of an advanced radar system to China. The US had protested that the early warning system could be used to track American jets in the South China Sea if hostilities broke out between China and Taiwan. The sale could have threatened any new offers of US aid to Israel, should there be a breakthrough in the talks, involving President Clinton, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat. The most contentious issues are the future status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state and the future status of more than 3 million Palestinian refugees. A news blackout at the talks remains in force.
