Arafat called Barak his "new partner in the peace process"

September 4, 1999
Web posted at: 8:18 p.m. EDT (0018 GMT)

In this story: Albright canvases Mideast for peace Prisoner issue resolved Final peace slated for September 2000 Hard-liners unhappy on both sides RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- Ending months of stalled negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat signed a breakthrough agreement early Sunday to implement the land- for-security Wye River accord.

International dignitaries attending the ceremony, including U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, applauded as the two men signed the agreement and embraced.

"The people of the Middle East are ready for the dawn of a new era," Barak said after the signing. "I believe it is our duty, leaders of all parties, to pave the way."

Arafat spoke after Barak, saying, "We assert, as we always promised, that we respect and implement our commitments."

Mubarak and Albright, whose diplomatic efforts late Friday helped end the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, signed the agreement as witnesses, as did King Abdullah.

"There were moments of loss of hope and despair. However, reason and mutual accommodation prevailed in the end," said Mubarak, who hosted the ceremony in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el Sheikh.

King Abdullah II, Mubarak, and Albright signed the agreement as witnesses

Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, ran on a peace platform in last spring's elections. "There has been too much bitter conflict," he said Saturday.

Arafat likewise was conciliatory, calling Barak "my new partner in the peace process."

Albright canvases Mideast for peace

"A great task has been completed and an even larger one remains," said Albright, who visited other Middle Eastern states beforehand in the hopes of expanding the peace process.

She held talks with Arafat in Gaza before making quick trips on Saturday to Syria and Lebanon, where she assessed the possibility of restarting peace talks between Israel and Syria and Lebanon.

Syrian President Hafez Assad praised Barak to Albright as an honorable leader and said he recognized Israel's "needs" had to be accommodated in a settlement.

Albright agreed that negotiations with Syria should be based on the principle of land for peace. But she would not say whether she agreed with Syria's condition that it first recover the strategic Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day war.

U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed appreciation Saturday for the efforts of Barak and Arafat to bring "just and lasting peace" to the region.

"We will do everything we can to be supportive all along the way," said Clinton, speaking at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Prisoner issue resolved

Though the two sides reportedly had settled most issues earlier in the week, negotiations stumbled on the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The Palestinians insisted Israel free at least 400 prisoners, while Israel refused to release more than 350.

Another sticking point was a clause in the agreement barring the two sides from taking unilateral steps in the West Bank and Gaza: Israel apparently had sought guarantees that Arafat would not declare statehood unilaterally before the two sides had negotiated a permanent peace agreement.

Lead Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said Arafat finally accepted the Israeli proposals after receiving assurances from Albright that the United States would hold Israel to its commitments under the new accord.

Final peace slated for September 2000

The revised Wye memorandum includes specific deadlines for implementing the accord. Under the plan: