Peace talks initiated to stop West Bank fighting

PARIS - Amid fresh bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright brought Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat together yesterday to try to get them to return to "the psychology of peacemaking."

Barak said talks will not resume until the violence ends.

Albright held two rounds of separate meetings yesterday with the two Mideast leaders and then convened a three-way session. An Albright news conference was delayed as the meeting with Barak and Arafat stretched past the two-hour mark.

Arafat condemned the "virulent attacks against our people" and said he would see Barak only if there was a guarantee that Palestinians would be protected and an inquiry was launched into violence on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In weeklong strife, more than 60 people have died, most of them Palestinians, in exchanges with Israeli soldiers and police.

Asked about the importance of a Barak-Arafat meeting, Palestinian Legislative Council member Ziad Abu-Zayyad said, "I believe that if people do not talk together, they will lose. But if they talk, they will have a chance to win."

Arafat and Barak also met separately with French President Jacques Chirac.

The State Department, meanwhile, issued a "worldwide caution" warning Americans to be vigilant about their personal security in light of the violence in the Middle East. These events "have raised the possibility that there may be protests in support of Palestinians throughout the Gulf region and elsewhere," the department said.