Hopeful Clinton Rejoins Mideast Summit

T H U R M O N T, Md., July 13, 2000 -- President Clinton returned to the mountaintop summit at Camp David this afternoon, rejoining the Middle East negotiators after an eight-hour absence during which the summit was very much on his mind.

At the annual NAACP convention across the state in Baltimore, Md., this morning, Clinton suggested that the peacemakers — whose negotiations continued in his absence — take a lesson in goodwill from American civil rights leaders.

“You embody the spirit of freedom and reconcilation we’re trying to capture there, that we need so badly in our talks,” he told the large African-American audience, calling the summit a “quest for full, fair, and final peace.”

And during a brief White House appearance this afternoon to announce a U.S. trade agreement with Vietnam, Clinton likened those trade negotiations, too, to the summit.

The U.S.-Vietnamese pact is “a reminder that former adversaries can come together and find common ground, to forgive and to reconcile,” Clinton said, adding that that’s just what the Middle Eastern leaders had to do at Camp David.

But Clinton declined to go into specifics.

“I think I should say nothing about what’s going on at Camp David,” he said. “The less I say, the greater our chances of success.”

Bringing the Outside In

Throughout the summit, the White House has painted a picture of cozy communal meals, friendly walks around the wooded grounds of the Catoctin Mountains presidentialretreat, and quiet conversations on the back porch.

In the past, such informality and enforced togetherness has been credited for summit success.

At the watershed Camp David summit of 1978, which paved the way for peace between Israel and Egypt, President Jimmy Carter spent 13 days and nights at the retreat, demanding that other participants do the same.

But the Palestinians may seek to break the isolation from the outside world that has prevailed so far. Palestinian sources said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wanted to hold a “leadership meeting” with Palestinian officials who were not part of his delegation and thushave not been allowed inside Camp David.

It was not clear whether such a gathering could take place at Camp David. White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart said he knew of no planned arrivals having been cleared by security. But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said today that arrangements could be made to bring in outside experts as needed.

Arafat traveled to the United States with a large entourage, including some political opponents, in what was seen as an effort to broaden his base of support for any deal that is struck.

On Wednesday, the president held separate discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the morning and Arafat in the late afternoon. There was also a series of informal encounters among members of the three delegations.

Arafat and Clinton talked as they strolled along a wooded pathway, in what White House spokesman P.J. Crowley described as a “substantive encounter.”

The president then met with Palestinian negotiators.

All the delegations had dinner together, repeating what has become a custom at the Camp David summit.

Details Leak Out?

Despite pledges of secrecy all around, some reports ofthe negotiations have emerged.

In Israel, Cabinet minister Haim Ramon, a Barak confidant, saida proposed land swap — unpopulated land within Israel proper, inexchange for West Bank land on which large Jewish settlement blocshave been built — was on the table at Camp David. It was the firsttime an Israeli official had publicly acknowledged willingness inprinciple to consider such a deal.

Lockhart refused comment on Ramon’s remarks.

On the sidelines of the talks, some Israeli and Palestinianofficials who were not part of the delegations — and thus free totalk — expressed optimism about the way the talks were going.

“We will have an agreement, and I hope it will also bring peaceand security to the Palestinians,” said Rabbi Michael Melchior,Israel’s Diaspora Affairs minister.

The Palestinians, who until now have been more pessimistic aboutprospects, also brightened their tone somewhat, saying Arafat came toCamp David with the intention of securing an accord.

ABCNEWS’ Rebecca Cooper in Thurmont, Md., and Lisa Sylvester in Washington, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.