Talks Beneficial, Palestinians and Israelis Report

Israeli and Palestinian teams failed to make a breakthrough in peace talks Friday, but they said negotiations looked “promising” as the sides undertook one of the most difficult issues--the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath reported “fruitful and very serious” talks, saying the sides were close on the issues of security and borders of a future Palestinian state.

“This is real negotiations, not posturing,” he said.

On the Israeli side, negotiator Yossi Sarid also was pleased with the talks, saying: “The talks went quite all right. . . There was nothing dramatic, but it’s a gradual, promising process.”

Formal talks at this Red Sea resort adjourned over the Jewish Sabbath, which started Friday, but the Israelis played host to Palestinians at a dinner Friday in Eilat, an Israeli town just across the border.

The negotiators looked relaxed as they sat at the dinner table, and the sides later held informal discussions.

The Taba talks are likely to end next week without producing an agreement, Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Friday.

The sides are trying to achieve at least an outline of a peace deal before Israel’s Feb. 6 election for prime minister.

At the talks Friday, Shaath and Israeli negotiator Yossi Beilin discussed the formidable refugee question. The Palestinians have been demanding that refugees and their descendants--about 4 million people--be allowed to return to Israel, but Israel has rejected that.

Other groups were dealing with Jerusalem, borders and security matters. Shaath said the two sides were close to a deal on the borders of a Palestinian state. He said Israel would get about 4% of the West Bank, and the Palestinians would receive some Israeli territory.

The violence in the Mideast continued Friday. Palestinian medics said 49 people were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Barak’s office said security forces have captured six members of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s elite Force 17 responsible for the deaths of six Israelis.