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'Israel not serious about peace talks'

JERUSALEM: The Palestinians on Friday accused Israel of wasting time in peace talks, saying Prime Minister Ehud Barak was not serious about meeting a February 13 deadline for a treaty framework.

Barak on Friday cancelled a weekend trip to an economic conference in Davos, Switzerland, dashing hopes for a three-way summit with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and US President Bill Clinton who are both there.

Arafat and Clinton were to meet on Saturday to review the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, followed by talks between Arafat and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Sunday.

Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty talks have yielded little progress. With the February 13 deadline for a treaty outline fast approaching, Israeli negotiator Oded Eran and his Palestinian counterpart, Yasser Abed Rabbo, are to hold marathon talks, starting on Sunday.

A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was possible the talks would be moved to the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat by mid-week, after Clinton's Mideast coordinator, Dennis Ross, meets with the two sides. The official said a final decision on the venue has not yet been made.

At a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet on Friday evening, Arafat said Israel's "delaying and evading implementation of the interim agreements is harming the peace process very badly," the Palestinian news agency WAFA said in a press release.

Arafat accused the Israelis of discussing from instead of content at the negotiations up till now, WAFA said. APP