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Shooting mars peace talk
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ISRAEL and the Palestinians said yesterday that no agreement was reached at a top-level security meeting overnight other than the two sides would continue to meet.
"During the meeting, all the security issues were raised without reaching any agreement," Palestinian intelligence chief Amin al-Hindi told reporters, adding that the two sides nevertheless agreed to hold further meetings.
The meeting of security chiefs was the first of its kind since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took office a month ago and followed a fierce upsurge in violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The meeting was, however, marred by a shooting incident in which the Israeli army fired on a convoy of Palestinan officials returning to Gaza City.
The army said it fired in response to shooting from a jeep leading the convoy on a military post near the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
An Israeli official who declined to be named reiterated Sharon's insistence that Israel will not resume peace negotiations until there is a halt to the violence that is now in its seventh month.
"The Palestinians demanded that the Israeli army withdraw its tanks on the ground and lift the blockade of the Palestinian territories but also tried to introduce political issues by calling for a new Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank," the official said. (SD-Agencies)
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