Albright takes over for Clinton; 'intensity will be maintained'

THURMONT, Md. - The Mideast summit, resurrected only hours after its reported demise, moved forward Thursday with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stepping in for the traveling President Clinton. ''She will try to close the gaps'' that loom large between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, her spokesman said.

''The same pattern and intensity will be maintained,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

With the summit in its 10th day, wearniess loomed as a factor.

But Bouhcer dismissed any suggestion that Barak or Arafat would be worn down into making dangerous concessions.

''We don't think any of these leaders is going to compromise on any issue that is not in the best interest of his people because he is tired,'' Boucher said.

Shortly after the White House announced late Wednesday night that the summit had ended without agreement, Barak and Arafat reversed course and decided to stay at Camp David, Md., while Clinton attended a three-day economic summit conference in Japan.

In the first nine days of talks, the two sides were unable to agree on the boundaries of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip or the fate of several million Palestinian refugees. But the real dealbreaker, by all accounts, was Jerusalem, the ancient city claimed by both sides as their capital.

Working to break the impasse, Albright met separately Thursday with Barak and Arafat, Boucher said.

''She is looking to put together, as much as we can, the positions of the parties and see how we can move all the issues forward,'' he said. ''So the determination is there.... She's here to carry the ball forward.''

The summit appeared over late Wednesday. A White House spokesman announced the talks had ended with no agreement. Barak prepared to make a statement. Arafat's departure was set for midnight.

And then, suddenly, word leaked out that Arafat and Barak were staying. In fact, U.S., Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had continued to meet even while the summit's end was being announced.

''Nobody wanted to give up,'' Clinton told a post-midnight news conference. The administration declined to say whose idea it was to stay.

Boucher insisted the declaration of the summit's demise was not theatrics.

''The cars were lined up, bags were packed, people were ready to go, the motorcade was ready to leave,'' he said. ''This was real.''

In the Middle East, Jordan's King Abdullah II met Thursday outside Amman with former Israeli President Ezer Weizman. They discussed ways to overcome obstacles in Middle East peacemaking, and the king later telephoned Arafat, Jordanian officials said on customary condition of anonymity.

The continuation of talks brought a swift renewal of attacks against Barak by political foes who contend he is preparing to make too-deep concessions to the Palestinians.

''We all want peace, but not the horrible peace of Barak that, I am sorry to say, could lead to war,'' hawkish former general Ariel Sharon told Israel radio.

Patrick Clawson, director of Research for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said in Washington that Clinton's departure gives the parties an ''opportunity to pause, to get some sleep. ... It's a good opportunity for Albright to explore the basic issues.''

If the talks had been allowed to end in failure, Clawson said, ''it would have made an ultimate settlement more difficult. ... It would have been very bad for Mr. Arafat as well as for Mr. Barak.''

Richard N. Haass, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, said Clinton's absence would not affect the negotiations.

''People almost always exaggerate the importance of mediators,'' Haass said. ''Ninety-nine percent of this is based on what Barak and Arafat are prepared to do. With no disrespect for Bill Clinton, he is the least important of the three central figures.''

Barak, who was eager for the summit, has offered the Palestinians a series of concessions. These include at least doubling the 40 percent of the West Bank already conceded by Israel, autonomy in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and taking in tens of thousands of Palestinians or their descendants who say they were expelled during Israel's fight for independence in 1948.

Arafat, determined to have a state and almost certain that Barak would go along, wants east Jerusalem as its capital, recognition of a right of refugees to return to Israel, and virtually all of the West Bank.

His demands are based on the view that all the territory, including East Jerusalem, is Arab land that Israel illegally occupies in defiance of U.N. resolutions. However, the 1967 and 1973 resolutions call on Israel to swap territory for secure borders - without specifying all the territory Egypt, Jordan and Syria lost in the 1967 Six-Day war.

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On the Net:

State Department Mideast Summit site: http://www.state.gov/www/regions/nea/cdavid-summit.html