W. Asia truce talks called off

JERUSALEM, SEPT. 24. The long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian truce talks sought by Washington were on hold again on Monday, possibly until next week, after Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli woman in a West Bank road ambush.

Also on Monday, Israel set up a large military buffer zone in the West Bank that is off-limits to Palestinians except those who live in it. Israel said the zone was meant to prevent attacks by Palestinian militants. Palestinians said Israel was violating earlier peace accords and the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, said the zone marked a ``very dangerous escalation.'' The United States wants Mr. Arafat and the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, to meet as soon as possible to work out a formal cease-fire. A fresh outbreak of Israeli- Palestinian violence would hamper Washington's efforts to bring Arab and Muslim states into an international alliance against Islamic militants.

However, the meeting, which Mr. Peres and Mr. Arafat have been trying to arrange for the past month, has been postponed repeatedly.

On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, unexpectedly vetoed talks set for later in the day, saying the Palestinians had not met his condition of restoring calm for at least 48 hours before a meeting.

On Monday, the fatal shooting in West Bank reset the clock for a 48-hour countdown, said Mr. Sharon's adviser, Mr. Raanan Gissin.

``This is not a cease-fire,'' Mr. Sharon told the visiting French Foreign Minister, Mr. Hubert Vedrine, on Monday, referring to Arafat's efforts.

The U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, has been in touch with both sides by phone repeatedly in recent days to help arrange the talks.

- AP

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Section  : International
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