DATE=10/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)
NUMBER=2-267902
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICE AT:
INTRO: Israeli soldiers and police remain on high alert for another possible outbreak of violence that has seriously jeopardized the Middle East peace process. As V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel reports, Muslim prayers at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem took place under relatively calm conditions.
TEXT: There were minor clashes between stone throwing Palestinians and riot-equipped Israeli police outside Jerusalem's Old City, but Friday prayers at a Muslim holy place occurred without serious incident.
Israeli soldiers restricted the number of people allowed to enter the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which has been a flash point for frequent clashes.
/// NATURAL SOUND, GUNFIRE ///
Soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire in the West Bank and protest marches occurred, but the overall level of violence was lower than in previous days.
On Thursday, Israeli combat helicopters fired on targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in retaliation for the killing of Israeli soldiers by an angry Palestinian mob.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is promising to investigate the incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is intensifying efforts to form a -national emergency government- with political parties that are opposed to peace agreements with the Palestinians.
World leaders and diplomats are trying to arrange a Middle East summit, possibly in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, aimed at halting the violence and saving the peace process.
Israeli Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami says before a summit is convened, there must be an assurance of positive results.
/// BEN-AMI ACT ///
So the problem here is not whether or not we are going to have a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh because we had a meeting in Paris also. The problem is if it is going to end with positive results or become a fiasco. I think that the peace process cannot take another fiasco.
/// END ACT ///
Thousands of Israeli police and soldiers are deployed in Jerusalem. Troops are being used to strengthen an Israeli closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, virtually sealing off many Palestinian towns with tanks and concrete barricades.
The violence was triggered more than two weeks ago when Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a sensitive site in Jerusalem's Old City that is sacred to Muslims and Jews. (SIGNED)
NEB/MB/GE/tdw
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