RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, NOV 8: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began crucial talks here today, aimed at reaching a permanent peace settlement after decades of conflict.The negotiations opened in the Grand Park hotel in this West Bank town under the leadership of career diplomat Oded Eran for the Israelis and Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo for the Palestinians.The two teams of half a dozen negotiators are due to address the thorniest issues still outstanding between Israel and the Palestinians - Palestinian statehood and borders, the status of Jerusalem, water rights, and the future of Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.Eran and Abed Rabbo are due to make public statements after the talks, which began despite a triple bomb attack yesterday in the mediterranean resort town of Netanya by suspected Palestinian extremists which wounded around 30 people.The two sides have set September, 2000 as the target date for striking a comprehensive peace deal and are due to reach a framework agreement by mid-February. The ambitious timetable for resolving a dispute which has defied the efforts of world statesmen for more than a century was laid out in the landmark peace accord Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on September 5. Negotiations are expected to focus on procedural matters and the agenda for talks.
