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Ross leaving Mideast empty-handed

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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. envoy Dennis Ross heads back to Washington on Tuesday without reporting any progress during four days of talks with the Israelis and Palestinians.

"I need to go back to report to the president and secretary of state," Ross told CNN on Monday. "The process has to be brought to conclusion at some point soon."

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin characterized the negotiations as being in "dire straits."

"That whole process of bringing the people together has been frozen," Rubin said. "And there is a growing disillusionment amongst the people about what peace can bring.

"The permanent status talks haven't begun. They're scheduled to end in a year. These are excruciating issues that are going to take a long time to negotiate. That is why I characterize the peace process in dire straits," Rubin said.

Ross met for about 2 1/2 hours with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, their fourth and final meeting before he left for Washington. Israeli sources say the talk produced "no decisions."

And in a comment made earlier in the day after briefing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Ross suggested that American patience was running out and the Clinton administration would not keep up the mediation effort indefinitely.

"Obviously the stalemate begins to diminish the hopes that people have for seeing a very different Middle East and for building and achieving peace," the Mideast peace envoy for the United States said.

Israel: 'Progress was made'

The Israelis are hoping Ross can be persuaded to return to the Middle East again in the near future, although Ross gave no indication when that might happen.

David Bar-Illan, one of Netanyahu's top advisers, said the prime minister "flatly rejected the idea of a 13 percent withdrawal," but he insisted that "progress was made" in the meetings with Ross.

"We believe there is a much greater understanding of our position on the part of the Americans," he said.

Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said it was too early to say whether Ross' mission had failed.

"Each side presented their conditions and perceptions of the minimum things they can accept," he said.

But Hanan Ashrawi, the Palestinian cabinet minister for higher education, had a more pessimistic take.

"It is obvious that once again American efforts ... to resuscitate the peace process have come face to face with Israeli intransigence," she said. "Ross has failed to extract from the Israelis a compliance with the requirements of the peace process and implementation with the agreements."

Ashrawi said Palestinians are concerned that Israeli pressure may force the United States to modify its proposal.

"We feel this is a real test for American political will and the ability to withstand Israeli intransigence," she said.

Palestinian marches turn violent

In the West Bank towns of Bethlehem, El Bireh and Ramallah meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians chanting "Death to America!" burned American and Israeli flags and stoned Israeli troops. The troops responded by firing tear gas and rubber-coated metal pellets to disperse the protesters, and several Palestinians were injured.

The violence began with marches to mark Land Day, a commemoration of a 1976 protest against land confiscation during which six Israeli Arabs were killed by Israeli troops.

Palestinian police, meanwhile, rounded up several supporters of the Islamic group Hamas to question them about the explosion of a car Sunday that reportedly was rigged with 110 pounds of TNT.

The bomb, apparently intended for use in an attack in Israel, went off prematurely Sunday in an industrial zone of Ramallah, killing one Palestinian. The blast reduced the car to a ball of twisted metal and leveled the garage it was in. A gun and a hand grenade were found nearby, according to Israel's Channel Two.

Netayahu may be softening

In a U.S.-backed agreement signed last year, Netanyahu agreed to carry out three troop pullbacks by this summer.

However, he later said he would go ahead with only one withdrawal before talks on final borders began. The Palestinians say they will not accept any changes in the agreement.

Ross has been trying to get Israel to agree to withdraw from as much as 13 percent of the West Bank in stages during the next three months. The American initiative also calls for the Palestinians to meet each of those withdrawals with new efforts to prevent terrorist attacks in Israel.

Netanyahu's cabinet has said it will tolerate ceding no more than 9 percent of the territory, and Netanyahu denied Israeli media reports Monday that he and Ross had negotiated a compromise of 11 percent.

But he did indicate that he might be softening somewhat, saying he was ready to discuss an additional withdrawal with Palestinian officials. But the Palestinians have reportedly insisted that Americans be present at such talks, an idea Netanyahu rejects.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat blamed Israel Monday for the deadlock and asked the United States to use "its international and regional weight" to find a solution.

In a speech in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Arafat said peace negotiations have been stalled because of "the obstinate positions and policies of the Israeli government, which contradict the spirit of peace."

Ross' mission has been viewed as a critical last-ditch bid at diplomacy before Washington either goes public with its proposals -- a move Israel wants to scuttle -- or possibly washes its hands of the peace process.

"It has been clear from the guidance I had in coming out here that both ... (Secretary of State Madeleine Albright) and the president believe that it is important to bring this process to a conclusion," Ross said Sunday. "But the president and the secretary will make a decision on when it is appropriate to do so."

Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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