Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters that the proposals were aimed at bridging the gaps between the sides, and dealt with all issues needed to reach a final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abed Rabbo said that the proposals also included guarantees for implementation of the agreements, including the presence of an international force.
Palestinian radio reported that Israel had denied that the United States had presented a detailed plan to the negotiators, Israel Radio reported, but had only shown the sides "ideas."
Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told Israeli radio Arabic service that Clinton had suggested meeting separately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to examine whether conditions exist for a three-way summit. "There is not enough flexibility in the Israeli position to encourage us to say we are approaching an agreement," Abed Rabbo said.
Palestinian radio said that the Israeli negotiators did not spell out the U.S. proposals, but said that an agreement "is built on a cocktail of things, some of which are more pleasant and some less pleasant, otherwise there would never be an agreement."
Media reports said that the U.S. proposals call for Jerusalem to be divided, with Palestinians receiving control over the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, the Moslem and Christian Quarters in the Old City, and the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount Compound, a site sacred to both Moslems and Jews.
The reports published by the Saudi Arabian daily Al Sharq El Awsatt said that Israel will have control over the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Jewish and Armenian Quarters of the Old City, and the Western (or Wailing) Wall, Judaism's holiest site.
The daily said that the proposal also calls for the majority of Palestinian refugees to be settled in countries where they now reside, with some absorbed in the Palestinian areas and only a small number allowed to return to their homes in Israeli territory.
The proposal suggests that a Palestinian state be established on 95 percent of the West Bank, and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip. The remaining 5 percent of the West Bank will come under Israeli sovereignty and will house Israeli settlement blocks.
Abed Rabbo said the Palestinian leadership would study the U.S. proposals "very carefully," adding that the plan had some elements "worthy of attention, and others which we have to be careful with."
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