Barak angry over Clinton comments on refugees

By Alan Philps, in Jerusalem

THE Israeli prime minister-elect, Ehud Barak, rebuked President Clinton yesterday after he said Palestinian refugees should have the right to return and "live wherever they like".

Israeli politicians saw the remarks as signalling the green light for Palestinians who left as long ago as 1948 to reclaim houses in places such as Jaffa, now a suburb of Tel-Aviv, and Beersheva, capital of the Negev.

Breaking his self-imposed silence on diplomatic issues until he takes office next week, Mr Barak authorised his spokesman to say that "Mr Clinton's stance, as it might be interpreted from his remarks yesterday, is unacceptable". The American embassy in Israel said the Clinton administration had not changed its policy on the refugee issue.

The question of refugees is one of the most contentious facing Mr Barak in forthcoming talks with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. Mr Clinton was speaking at a news conference, where he was asked if the Palestinians would receive the same treatment as the Kosovar Albanians. He said: "I would like it if the Palestinian people felt free and were free to live wherever they like."

But he suggested the practicalities might dictate a different solution. "Whether refugees return home depends in part on how long they've been away and whether they wish to go home. It will also depend on the nature of the settlement, how much land the Palestinians have, where it will be and how it corresponds to where people lived."

An Israeli official said: "There is no comparison between people who have left their homes for a few weeks and those who have lived outside the country for generations."

Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat have agreed to meet soon after Mr Barak takes office next week and together make peace. "

It would be the first Israeli-Palestinian summit in nearly seven months. Israel's rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu froze peace moves with the Palestinians last December. Mr Barak's spokesman gave no date for the forthcoming meeting."