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Israeli-Palestinian talks to return to Middle East

JERUSALEM: Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations will move back to the Middle East later this month after talks near Washington wrap up this weekend, a senior Palestinian negotiator said on Saturday.

"The talks will resume in the region at the end of this month with the participation of Dennis Ross," senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters from Washington.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been holding talks at Bolling Air Force base near the U.S. capital since April 7 trying to nail down a skeleton peace accord by mid-May. The two sides have set a September 13 deadline for reaching a final accord.

"The talks will resume in the region at the end of this month with the participation of Dennis Ross,"senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters from Washington.

The negotiators were expected to end their U.S.-based talks this weekend and go home to consult with their leaders after exchanging proposals on a framework deal, State Department spokesman James Rubin said on Friday.

Israel's Channel One Television on Friday cited a source knowledgeable about the talks as saying, "Israel will agree to the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state."

Palestinian officials have said they are not negotiating a state -- which President Yasser Arafat has pledged to declare in mid-September with or without a peace deal with Israel -- but rather what the nature of the state will be.

Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, all territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel annexed Jerusalem, which it calls the country's "united, eternal capital", in 1967, a move that has not been recognised internationally.

"The Palestinian state will absolutely have the borders of 1967," Erekat said.

Israeli television reported that Israel would recognise the state in the May agreement, but would tackle the more difficult border issue in the mid-September final deal.-Reuters