The Israeli-Palestinian summit to be held Thursday in Sharm el-Sheikh under the aegis of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will set a framework for the revival of peace negotiations but will probably not yield an agreement, Egyptian diplomatic sources said.
Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "are not coming to announce an agreement, but to set a framework for the negotiations", a source close to the Egyptian foreign ministry told AFP Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
US President Bill "Clinton sees his proposals as a take-it-or-leave-it deal, but some of them are very difficult to accept for Arafat", another diplomat said.
The summit will come after close Israeli and Palestinian study of peace proposals made by Clinton, aimed at putting an end to a 50-year conflict, before he leaves office on January 20.
"The resumption of negotiations would be announced during the summit, as well as preparatory meetings that could lead to a summit in Washington", said the second diplomat, who also asked not to be identified.
The editorialist of the official daily Al-Ahram also said Wednesday that Sharm el-Sheikh "was not about producing a final agreement, but setting an agenda for the revival of peace negotiations".
The summit will take place exactly three months to the day after the outbreak of the current wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has cost 356 lives -- CAIRO (AFP)
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