Albright Prods Netanyahu on Peace Talks

In an attempt to end the impasse in the Middle East peace process, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright launched two days of hardball diplomacy in a meeting here Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the session, which ran an hour longer than expected, appeared to make no significant headway.

In pointed language, Albright later told a news conference: “I made it clear that for the sake of Mideast peace and our broader mutual interests in the region, it is time for us to move on.”

Albright and Netanyahu refused to detail their discussions, but the language of the news conference indicated the difficulties. Albright merely called the talks “useful.”

The Clinton administration is clearly frustrated that it faces serious setbacks in the two most important sectors of the region--the Persian Gulf and the Arab-Israeli relationship.

Although U.S. officials refuse to point fingers, irritation with the Israeli government is becoming increasingly tangible.

Albright is scheduled to fly to Bern, Switzerland, today to meet with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

The U.S. goal is to prod both parties to act on four areas after recent talks in Washington rather than let the momentum slip, as has become the pattern this year, according to a senior official on Albright’s plane.

The immediate issues are: a Palestinian airport; a seaport; safe passage for Palestinians from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip; and an industrial zone in the Gaza Strip. The broader agenda includes security cooperation; Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank; Albright’s call for a “timeout” in Israeli housing development in controversial areas; and acceleration of so-called final status talks between the two parties.

While the Washington talks failed to produce any agreements, the official said the tenor of negotiations was “quite good,” although Albright still has “a lot of work to do.”

At the news conference, Albright said it is essential to bridge the divisions and not allow any actions that would prevent the process from moving forward.

Valuable time, she added, is being lost.

Adding to possible friction, Washington is disappointed that Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy will not attend the annual Middle East economic conference this weekend in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar.

Industry and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky will lead the Israeli delegation to the meeting. The administration had to lobby hard to prevent the conference--launched in 1994 to foster Arab-Israeli economic cooperation--from being canceled altogether by Arabs angry at Netanyahu.