Draft of a Wye Agreement

Draft of a Wye Agreement

Israeli and Palestinian officials said the two sides have agreed to:

-- A specific security plan with a timetable for Palestinians to arrest alleged terrorists and confiscate weapons, under CIA supervision. Israeli dropped its insistence that suspects be extradited to Israel. (see CIA new role in the Middle East peace CIA23.htm)

-- A 13 percent Israeli troop pullback from the West Bank.

-- Reduction of the Palestinian police force from 4,000 to 2,000.

-- Establishment of a joint Israeli-Palestinian committee to discuss a third troop withdrawal, which the Palestinians had hoped to nail down here.

Unresolved issues that remain:

-- Opening a Palestinian airport in Gaza.

-- Providing safe passage for Palestinians moving between Gaza and other Palestinian areas.

The Clinton administration is also hoping to get the Israelis to call a ``time out'' on building new Jewish settlements and persuade Arafat to withdraw his threat to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state on May 4.

Arafat and Netanyahu, sitting side by side on a couch at the Wye

conference centre, worked one-on-one for 20 minutes with notepads on their laps and note takers at their sides to resolve the sticking points.