Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat began talks on Wednesday aimed at reaching a lasting cease-fire that could help the United States forge a global anti-terror coalition. The two leaders met under intense U.S. pressure to end a year of bloodshed widely seen as an obstacle to U.S. efforts to recruit Arab nations for an alliance to respond to the suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington on September 11. Peres and Arafat walked separately up a red carpet into the terminal building at Gaza airport for the first of a series of meetings intended to turn a shaky week-old cease-fire into a more permanent truce.

The meeting had been delayed several times in the past few weeks, mainly because of objections by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to holding negotiations while violence continues.
Peres and Arafat hope to make a declaration outlining new peace moves. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed several cease-fires since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began last September but none has lasted for long.
Bureau Report