http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/current/international/stories/mideast.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)
CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuter) - PLO head Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met Friday to review progress toward Palestinian self-rule on the West Bank, organisers of a symposium they were attending in Italy said.
They said the two men and Giovanni Agnelli, head of Italian carmaker FIAT, met for half an hour in a secluded basement area of the venue at Cernobbio on Lake Como in northern Italy.
``We're doing all our best to have real peace and an accurate and honest implementation of what has been agreed upon,'' Arafat told reporters on his way in to the talks.
Palestinian officials said Arafat, who emerged smiling from the meeting, would meet Peres again later Friday.
In a speech to delegates before meeting Peres, Arafat chided Israel for the slow pace of the negotiations to date and warned that ``the enemies of peace will exploit the standstill.''
Israel and the PLO are struggling to complete the second phase of the 1993 interim peace accord, which in 1994 set up Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho.
Israeli army redeployment from West Bank Palestinian populated areas is more than a year behind schedule.
Arafat said in his speech that, although both sides had agreed to postpone the issue of Jerusalem until the beginning of the third year of talks, Israel was doing ``its best to impose a de facto policy before reaching an agreement.''
Peres had earlier said he and Arafat would discuss developments at talks between Israeli and PLO negotiators this week in Eilat, Israel, and set an agenda for fresh talks on Monday and Tuesday.
Asked why Italy was the venue for the meeting with Arafat, Peres said one reason was that secret peace talks had been held between the two delegations at an undisclosed Italian location in June arranged by Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli.
At his news conference, Peres said he thought the talks on self-rule could be completed by the end of the month, adding there was ``still a lot to be done'' in the peace process.
``The principal problem remains the negotiations with Syria and Lebanon, which are going very slowly.''
Arafat is due to meet Pope John Paul Saturday.