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Sharon not bound by current peace offer, Barak says
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon won't be bound by peace offers made to the Palestinians so far, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday. Barak delivered that news to his Cabinet on Sunday as he met with Sharon, who has to form a government by late March.
Palestinian officials, meanwhile, handed down a death sentence for a man suspected of collaborating with Israeli authorities. On Sunday, Barak -- who lost to Sharon by a double-digit margin in an election last week -- appeared to be paving the way for Sharon's new approach to peacemaking. Barak told his government that Sharon won't be bound by any tentative agreement between his government and the Palestinian Authority, and Barak's Cabinet withdrew the proposals put to the Palestinians so far, Israeli radio reported. Arab foreign ministers ended a two-day meeting in Jordan's capital, Amman, on Sunday by calling on Sharon to resume peace talks at the point where Barak left off -- a position Sharon has rejected. In talks in Taba, Egypt, that ended nine days before the Israeli election, Barak had reportedly agreed to allow the formation of a Palestinian state in territory that included all of Gaza, 95 percent of the West Bank and most of Arab East Jerusalem. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Reuters he was keeping a close eye on Sharon's coalition talks and would give the Israeli leader a chance to prove he was serious about making peace. "We will judge him according to policies he takes as prime minister and with whom he will form a government," Arafat said. "We have to wait and see." The hawkish Sharon, who oversaw Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon as defense minister, has tried to soften his image, but Arabs remain suspicious. "There had been efforts and progress in the last 10 years, and we cannot go back to zero each time there is a change of government in Israel," Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said. "But if there is someone who proposes going back to zero or close to zero, this is a declaration that this person does not seek peace and does not consider peace an option." Palestinian draws death sentenceThe troubles in the West Bank and Gaza continued over the weekend, with a bomb explosion near a Jewish settlement in Gaza early Sunday and gun battles reported between Israeli and Palestinian security forces Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, a Palestinian court in Hebron sentenced Hassan Mussalam, a 54-year-old Palestinian National Guard captain, to death by firing squad after convicting him of passing information to Israeli intelligence officials. Spectators cheered the sentence, which came after a two-day trial before a closed military court. The Palestinian Authority executed two men as collaborators last month, then announced a 45-day amnesty period after sharp criticism from Israel and other countries. The death sentence was handed down as a U.N. mission was in the Palestinian territories investigating allegations of human rights violations by Israeli security forces during the four months of clashes that began in late September. Israel has refused to cooperate with the inquiry and has condemned the U.N. resolution that set up the panel. Clinton praises Sharon effortsSharon has promised to bring members of Barak's Labor Party into a national unity government with his Likud supporters and has offered Barak the post of defense minister in his new government. Barak is thought unlikely to accept the offer, however, since he has promised to resign as soon as Sharon assembles a government. Without Labor's support, Sharon would have to rely on conservative religious parties to form a government in Israel's fractious parliament, the Knesset. Those parties would likely take a tough stance on peacemaking, and some potential partners reject any peace talks outright. On Saturday, former U.S. President Bill Clinton praised Sharon's effort to form a unity government, "for in the end, the Israeli people will have to go forward together." Clinton spent much of his last weeks in office trying to broker a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. In remarks to the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center near Miami, Florida, Clinton said a solution may involve the United States and Europe taking in some displaced Palestinians. "Everyone who wants to go to the Palestinian homeland ought to be able to go. Israel should have the right to take some refugees and perhaps feel some responsibility to do so," he said. "But no one can expect Israel on the one hand to give up land and also acknowledge an unlimited right of return that would threaten the very foundations of the state of Israel. That is not going to happen." And while an immediate resolution of the conflict appears unlikely, the former president said it would be a mistake to give up on more limited agreements to at least quell tensions. CNN Correspondent Mark Potter, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
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