Both Sides Optimistic After Talks on Several Mideast Issues

Middle East peace talks on secondary issues such as pollution and refugees ended on an upbeat note Friday, with the Israeli negotiator predicting a possible peace agreement within months.

“I believe that we are on the verge of peace in the Middle East,” Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin said at the end of the two-day meeting.

“Provided we do the utmost . . . to compromise, then (an agreement) may be a matter not of years, but of months,” Beilin added.

His Palestinian counterpart, Mohammed Hallaj, said at a separate news conference, “There is reason for optimism.”

“We live in a world where, obviously, great change unexpectedly happens, so you can’t rule out anything,” Hallaj said. “There have been some achievements. As I said, everybody agrees the tone is better.”

The cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in London gave an American official hope that the next full round of peace talks, scheduled to begin Monday in Washington, would go well.

Assistant Secretary of State Edward P. Djerejian told reporters in London that “this effort to reach out to one another is precisely the kind of approach . . . required to bridge the gaps and resolve difficulties.”

Earlier in the day, Lebanese Foreign Minister Faris Bouez announced in Beirut that the Palestinians and their Arab partners had agreed to take part in the new Washington talks, the eighth round of negotiations with Israel.

“We have decided to participate in . . . Washington,” Bouez said after six hours of consultations among Palestinian leaders and officials from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt to agree on a common Arab position. Egypt is not a party to the Middle East peace talks but is working as a mediator.

The London meeting concentrated on water shortages, regional pollution, refugees, arms control and economic development. The next such session is scheduled for March or April in Moscow.

These secondary talks, sponsored by the United States and Russia, drew representatives from the European Community, Canada and Japan, plus a cross section of the Arab world, including Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Syria and Lebanon boycotted the meeting, saying that a peace accord should be reached before other regional issues are discussed.

Beilin, the deputy Israeli foreign minister, said Israel hopes that the change of U.S. administrations will not interrupt the talks.

“We should talk and talk and talk,” said Beilin. “I also believe we are mature children. We can sit and talk seriously together without a third party.”