The Palestinians want an agreement with Israel that covers details and not general ideas, as in a US compromise plan that seeks to broker an accord between the two sides, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Thursday.
"We do not want a declaration of principles, but an accord ... covering the details," Erakat said in Cairo, following a meeting between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
"The details are very important," Erakat said.
The negotiator said that at stake was "a historic accord that will determine the situation in the region for at least the next 20 years."
"The Americans have asked us to first accept the general lines and continue discussions afterward," Erakat said, saying the Palestinians rejected that step.
Early Thursday morning, Egypt announced the cancellation of a three-way summit between Arafat, Mubarak and Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak scheduled later in the day. The leaders would have met to work towards an agreement based on the US peace proposals.
Egypt has offered no explanation for the scrapping of the summit.
According to the Israeli media, the peace proposals presented by US President Bill Clinton last week included the handing over to the Palestinians some form of autonomy over east Jerusalem, 95 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip in exchange for a renunciation of the Palestinian refugees' right of return -- CAIRO (AFP)
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