Mideast Peace Talks

Senior U.S. and Soviet officials will meet next month in a neutral European country to confer on problems in the Persian Gulf, prospects for Mideast peace talks and the protracted war in Afghanistan, according to Washington sources. Richard W. Murphy, assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, will ask senior Soviet diplomat Vladimir P. Polyakov for help in steering a resolution through the U.N.

Nearly 400 Palestinian deportees marched on an Israeli army outpost Monday and settled down on straw rugs for an overnight vigil to protest the resumption of Mideast peace talks. The talks are set to resume in Washington today--a fact that has divided rival Palestinian factions. The sit-in came after the exiles walked 1 1/2 miles from their tent camp toward the Zommaraya checkpoint on the northeastern edge of Israel's self-proclaimed security zone in southern Lebanon.

Israel shelled targets in southern Lebanon on Saturday for the fifth successive day, according to reports from the area, apparently in response to attacks by guerrillas last week that killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded six. Lebanese sources in Israel's "security zone" in south Lebanon also said the Israeli army had issued warnings with loudspeakers and leaflets to Lebanese villagers in the vicinity of Kfar Roummane near Nabatiyeh to leave their homes or risk being shelled and bombed.

The United States will stop its efforts to set up Mideast peace talks unless Israel agrees to proceed without delay, Secretary of State James A. Baker III said today. "The phone number (for the White House switchboard) is 202-456-1414. When you're serious about this, call us," Baker said in comments directed to the Israeli government. Baker, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the new government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to accept the U.S.

New York's 9th Congressional District should be a seat that Democrats hold in the face of any disaster, man-made or natural -- but that political wisdom will be sorely tested next week when voters choose a replacement for Anthony Weiner, forced to resign in disgrace amid a sexting scandal. What should be a safe seat has turned into a toss-up,  the Rothenberg Political Report announced Thursday, citing new media buys by Democrats fearing a loss of the seat once held by Sen. Charles Schumer.

World leaders Monday criticized Israel's refusal to extend its construction moratorium on the West Bank even after Palestinians threatened to quit Mideast peace talks, but they vowed to prevent the stalled negotiations from collapsing. "We are disappointed but we remain focused on our long-term objective and will be talking to the parties about the implications of the Israeli decision," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said. "Given the decision yesterday, we've still got a dilemma that we have to resolve and there are no direct negotiations scheduled at this point.

The PLO leadership, visibly dissatisfied with Israeli plans to crack down on Jewish settlers and release Palestinian prisoners, began debate Sunday about whether to resume negotiations with Israel or heed popular calls to pull out of the troubled peace process.

After seven months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is now prepared to commit to accelerated, high-profile Mideast peace talks aimed at concluding a final deal between Israel and the Palestinians up to a year earlier than the May 1999 target, according to U.S. officials. Albright will propose speeding up both the pace and the agenda when she makes her first trip to the region as secretary of State at the end of the month.

Three Palestinian leaders who met with Secretary of State James A. Baker III on Saturday urged him to stop Israel from building settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and said they are "cautiously optimistic" about progress toward getting Mideast peace talks under way.