The Palestinian decision to put off declaring an independent state is being seen as a vote in favour of the peace process. A senior Palestinian official said that the declaration would not be made until at least the middle of November. The official also said that they hoped to reach agreement this year. President Yasser Arafat is due to go to Egypt to brief President Mubarak on developments. Peace talks are due to resume tomorrow.
The United States and Israel have welcomed the decision by the 129-member Palestinian Central Council. The Council voted to postpone the declaration for two months, to allow more time for a peace deal to be reached with Israel. A White House spokesman welcomed fresh initiatives to restart peace talks. A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, called the move "a positive step".
