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Abu Dis, West Bank: Israel and the Palestinians must come up with a detailed agreement on the most divisive issues between them ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference, the lead Palestinian negotiator said yesterday.
But Ahmad Qorei emphasised that negotiating teams that began work last week have not forged a written agreement on any of these issues - final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinians who lost their homes during the war that followed Israel's 1948 creation.
The document that is to be presented at the conference "should be a detailed, clearcut document on the final status issues," Qorei said after meeting with US diplomat David Welch.
If the conference fails to create clear foundations for peacemaking, "the outcome will not be good," he added.
The meeting is expected to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, at the end of November. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in the region today to try to help Israel and the Palestinians narrow gaps ahead of the conference.
The United States is optimistic Palestinians and Israelis will agree to a joint document on the tough issues that divide them before the conference.
Washington has backed the idea of a small territorial exchange between Israel and a future Palestine so that Palestinians would be compensated for Jewish colonies' blocs that would remain under Israeli control in any peace deal.
Negotiations on core issues such as the borders of a Palestinian state and the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees broke down in 2001 amid surging violence.
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