Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, who concluded a fragile truce accord with Yasser Arafat last week, said Sunday he thought the Palestinian leader was sincerely trying to end weeks of violence.
"Yasser Arafat is making sincere efforts to reduce the scale of the rioting, but he is not in control of everything and it will take several days before, I hope, these efforts bear fruit," Peres told Israeli public radio.
Confrontations which have killed more than 170 people, mainly Palestinians shot by Israeli troops, since the end of September, have greatly diminished in the past few days but clashes still occur.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, interviewed by Israeli military radio from the United States, also acknowledged that Arafat had real difficulties in mastering the situation.
"We will soon know if these difficulties stem from a lack of will on his part or a lack of capability," he added.
Peres called for peace negotiations to resume immediately after Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak have separate meetings with US President Bill Clinton planned for later this week.
Ben Ami said Washington wanted to review the possibilities of relaunching the peace process, but calm in the Palestinian territories was a prerequisite.
Asked about Israeli press reports that Barak would be seeking to alter propositions raised at the unsuccessful Camp David summit in July, notably with regard to the security of Jewish settlements near Jerusalem, Ben Ami said he could confirm nothing.
But he added that if negotiations resumed the events of the past few weeks would have to be taken into account -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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