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Barak opens talks with hawkish coalition

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October 24, 2000 

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Monday launched talks with the hawkish opposition on the terms of joining his teetering government - a move that, if successful, could freeze Mideast peace negotiations for many months.

The start of the formal coalition contacts came a day after the prime minister announced that Israel was taking "time out" from peace talks, to the chagrin of U.S. President Bill Clinton and dovish members of Barak's center-left government.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was outright contemptuous, saying Barak could "go to hell."

In the West Bank town of Nablus, two Palestinian teen-agers, ages 15 and 17, died Monday after being shot in the head during earlier clashes with Israeli troops. The deaths brought to 123 the number of people killed in 26 days of fighting. All but eight of those killed have been Arabs.

Also Monday, the army imposed a blockade on Beit Jalla, a Palestinian town from which Palestinian gunmen have been shooting at the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem.

On Sunday night, Israel responded to the shooting with missiles and tank-mounted machine gun fire. Beit Jalla and nearby Bethlehem were plunged into darkness, a Beit Jalla factory was destroyed and several homes damaged.

One rocket hit a children's bedroom in the home of the Nazal family in Beit Jalla. Sohana Nazal said moments earlier she had moved her children, George, 3, and Ghada, 2, from the room because it faces Israeli tanks on a nearby hill.

"We heard a loud crash. We thought it (the rocket) had landed on the street. Only when we opened the door to their room and saw all the smoke, did we realize what had happened," Nazal said.

Hundreds of civilians have fled Beit Jalla and the nearby Aida refugee camp.

The Israeli army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, said life for the residents of Beit Jalla can only return to normal if the shooting from the Palestinian side stops. "If they make it impossible to conduct a normal life on the Israeli side, I do not think we can tolerate such a situation," Mofaz told Israel radio.

Barak on Monday launched formal talks to broaden his coalition, which at present controls only 30 seats in the 120-member legislature. Parliament returns from summer recess on Sunday. If Barak fails to bring opposition leader Ariel Sharon and his Likud party into the government, early elections appear inevitable.

Barak and his negotiators were to meet separately Monday with Sharon as well as representatives from the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party and the dovish Meretz factions, both former coalition members.

Sharon has said he would not join the government unless Barak distances himself from concessions he offered the Palestinians during the Mideast summit at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat, in July.

At the time, Barak was ready to give the Palestinians more than 90 percent of the West Bank, as well as control over parts of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem.

Critics said Sharon's presence in the government would dim hopes for peace.

"I think a national unity government ... would make the prospect of peace more distant and undermine the belief in the world that we really do want to make peace," said Justice Minister Yossi Beilin of Barak's One Israel alignment.

"If Sharon will have the right to veto peace negotiations, I will not be able to sit in it (the government)," said Beilin, a key player in previous interim accords.

The weekend's Arab summit held Israel responsible for the violence and called for international intervention, but did not make it obligatory for Arab governments who had made peace with Israel to sever their relations with the Jewish state.

Clinton and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have been trying to get Barak and Arafat back to the negotiating table. While campaigning Sunday, Clinton spoke to Barak by telephone for 15 minutes. Clinton said he would keep working with both sides to try to get them to honor a truce agreement worked out last week and to return to peace talks eventually, according to White House officials.

In another development, the Israeli Cabinet approved a dlrs 1 billion development plan for Arab communities in Israel. Over four years, the money is to be used to improve schools and combat unemployment by setting up industrial parks.

Sunday's decision was aimed at appeasing Israel's 1 million Arab citizens who have complained of systematic discrimination by successive governments. Thousands of Israeli Arab citizens have joined the Palestinians' protests in recent weeks, both as a show of support and to spotlight their own complaints.

At least 10 Israeli Arabs have been killed in clashes with police. The government has said it would investigate the deaths, but Arab legislators said a two-member panel set up fell far short of a judicial commission of inquiry they have sought.

US, North Korea, Albright

Albright begins to lay groundwork for Clinton visit

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Putting aside a half-century of acrimony, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il engaged in talks Monday aimed at laying the groundwork for a visit by U.S. President Bill Clinton to one of the last bastions of the Cold War.

With a firm handshake, Albright and Kim moved their two nations - one democratic, the other communist - a bit closer together.

Kim noted that Albright was the first secretary of state to ever visit North Korea. "This is a new one from a historical point of view," he said. "I am really very happy."

Responded Albright, "I'm very glad to be here in your beautiful city."

The two spoke for three hours, with a 15-minute break, and during the meeting Albright gave Kim a letter from Clinton anticipating further developments in bilateral relations.

"The visit is historic," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. But there are "a lot of things that have to be discussed; a lot of issues that have to be dealt with."

"Being able to deal successfully with these issues is the key to having a successful visit by the president," he said. North Korea's missile program is one such issue, and Washington also wants the regime to break any remaining links with terrorism.

Albright arrived to a low-key arrival ceremony that belied the significance of her visit. Asked if the United States was moving too quickly in the relationship with North Korea, she said, "We're not moving faster than it makes sense."

Images of Kim's father and North Korea founder Kim Il Sung were everywhere as Albright traveled from the airport to downtown, a reminder of the country's communist origins more than 50 years ago. The face of the "Great Leader," as he is called, beamed from an airport mural, from billboards and from signs adorning buildings along Albright's route.

Her first stop was at the Kim Il Sung Palace, which was converted into a mausoleum after his death in 1994.

Despite the overtures inherent in Albright's visit and the efforts to set up one by Clinton, U.S. officials warned in advance that serious differences remained between the two nations.

Of primary concern is North Korea's missile development program and its export of missiles to Iran and Syria. Albright raised those issues with Kim Jong Il but officials said no agreements are expected.

North Korea has been included on the U.S. list of states supporting international terrorism since January 1988, after North Korean agents bombed a South Korean airliner, KAL Flight 858, in November 1987, killing 115 people.

South Korean officials welcomed the Albright trip. "We must consider as desirable the North Korean moves to set up new relations with the outside world," said presidential spokesman Park Joon-young.

Some critics feared, however, the visit might make Pyongyang less willing to talk to the South.

Albright and Kim met in the luxury guest house where she was staying. Plush carpet lined the floors, and crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. Later Monday, she planned to attend a dinner hosted by Kim.

North Korea is suffering from a severe food shortage, and Albright visited a kindergarten in the Rang Nang District that participates in the U.N. World Food Program

The kindergarten children, lined up in neat rows on a dirt playground, performed traditional dances for Albright, who mimicked their motions. A small boy hid behind a white sack of U.S.-donated wheat while a classmate tossed the white powder at him.

The United States has contributed nearly 1.5 million tons of food to the U.N. program, Albright said.

She told the food program staff: "Your work is vital because these children and their brothers and sisters around the country should be able to grow up without fear of emergency shortages and famine. And international donors should be assured that the supplies they send are used for the purposes intended."

Later, Kim asked her how the kindergarten visit went. "I danced with the children. I'm very satisfied," she said.

Security was tight in North Korea's traditionally closed society. Journalists were admonished not to explore the city on their own. "You must submit to a schedule," a senior Information Ministry official told them.

As Clinton seeks to build a foreign policy legacy in the waning days of his administration, his opening toward North Korea seems more promising than any other, a turn of events few would have predicted six years ago when the two countries seemed close to war.

Kim has shown a surprise willingness to reciprocate to Clinton's moves to seek accommodation. He has been reaching out not only to the United States but to other countries, most notably South Korea.

In a communique issued two weeks ago at the conclusion of a visit to Washington by Jo Myong Rok, a top Kim adviser, the two nations pledged "to take steps to fundamentally improve their bilateral relations in the interests of enhancing peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region."

Kim thanked Albright for her making the arrangements for Jo's visit and ensuring that it went smoothly.

The threat of war has hung over the Korean peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953. About 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea.

"The U.S. government is very clear, as is the Republic of Korea, that American military forces need to remain in Korea even after there is a reduction in tension and even if there is reunification on the Korean peninsula," State Department official Morton Halperin said Monday during a visit to Canberra, Australia.

"We are at a historic moment in which the last remaining Cold War confrontation may finally be coming to an end," he said. "As we move forward we need to move carefully, we need to remember that there is still a very serious North Korean military threat on the peninsula."

The United States is considering the creation of a national missile defense, partly out of concern that North Korea may someday direct ICBM's at American cities.

North Korea has for years ignored American efforts to stop it from exporting missiles. There are indications that Pyongyang may be beginning to listen to those concerns.

Albright's visit to North Korea followed one by China's defense minister, Gen. Chi Haotian. In meetings Sunday with North Korea's defense minister, Vice Marshal Kim Il Chol, Chi promised that China would maintain strong military ties with Pyongyang, according to Chinese state media.

China has ties with both North and South Korea.

After two days of talks in North Korea, Albright planned to fly across the Demilitarized Zone to Seoul to brief senior officials from Japan and South Korea. Both nations continue to be nervous about North Korea's military.

On the Net: State Department backgrounder on North Korea: http://www.state.gov/www/background-notes/north-korea-0696-bgn.html