Arafat worries that Barak coalition could include Likud

RAMALLAH [MENL] -- Palestinian officials, pleased with the defeat of Likud incumbent Binyamin candidate are now closely following Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak's coalition possibilities to determine his policy toward the peace process.

Palestinian Authority officials said they are concerned that Barak's Labor Party would establish a center-right coalition that would include the Likud Party and the National Religious Party. They said this would be the worst combination for the Palestinians.

"Netanyahu had little support either in the United States or even in Israel," a PA source said. "If Barak succeeds in bringing the Likud we could see most of Netanyahu's policies implemented without any U.S. or Israeli pressure."

Without a strong left-wing faction in the coalition, the officials said, Barak will be without any internal pressure to make concessions to the Palestinians. They pointed out that the left-wing of the Labor Party as well as Meretz formed a powerful lobby for the Palestinians in the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1992.

Officials said PA Chairman Yasser Arafat is concerned over such a scenario. They said Arafat was alarmed by Barak's statement that called for a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.

Arafat, the officials said, was assauged by a telephone call from U.S. President Bill Clinton on Tuesday night. In his telephone call, officials said, Clinton pledged to resume implementation of the Wye River accords.

Officials said that over the next few days, Arafat will fly to Cairo to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to plan the resumption of the peace process. From Cairo, Arafat will fly to Amman.

Palestinian officials said the talks are required in advance of an expected invitation by U.S. President Bill Clinton to invite Arafat, Barak, and Mubarak to the White House.

On Wednesday, PA minister and senior negotiator Saeb Erekat met U.S. Consul John Herbst. and called on the United States to intervene immediately to stop new Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Erekat also demanded that Israel immediately implement suspended provisions of the interim accords with Israel.

On Tuesday night, the PA Cabinet and PLO leadership said in a statement that it congratulated the election of Barak and said it hoped the new prime minister would remove all obstacles toward progress in peace negotiations. The leadership said the key hurdle is Jewish settlements.

On Wednesday, Palestinian sources said Israeli bulldozers continued preparing the ground for new settlement projects around the West Bank.

Senior PA officials appear divided over the prospects of a Barak government. Some PA officials such as PA secretary-general Tayeb Abdul Rahim and Erekat assert that Barak will be no less resistant to concessions than Netanyahu. The difference, they said, is that they will benefit from greater domestic and U.S. support and show a greater willingness to negotiate.

Others such as Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Ahmed Qurei and PA International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath are said to believe that Barak is prepared to make significant concessions to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. They assert that Barak's campaign pledges will never be implemented.

Qurei said on Wednesday that the key to the Barak government will be whether it allows the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The first issue is the halt in settlements," Qurei told Israel Radio's Arabic service. "There can't be peace with settlements."