The Palestine Chronology

Secy. of State Christopher opens ninth round of peace talks in Washington, urging parties to focus on substance, not procedure. Syrian delegation head Muwaffaq al-'Allaf and Palestinian delegate Haydar 'Abd al-Shafi say separately that Israel presented nothing new to their respective delegations. (SARR 4/27, Qol Yisra'el 4/28 in FBIS 4/28; WT 4/28)

Israel proposes transferring some powers, including budgetary and police, to o.t. authority as talks proceed, to demonstrate to Palestinians that talks produce tangible results. (MM 4/29)

Two-day UN-supervised Israeli-Palestinian conf. on status of Jerusalem ends in Athens. Labor MK Ya'el Dayan and PLO official Sami Musallam were among the participants. (Qol Yisra'el 4/28 in FBIS 4/28)

Strike in o.t., Palestinian camps called by 10 Palestinian rejectionist factions is widely observed (see 4/25). (RFL 4/27 in FBIS 4/27; WT 4/28)

Haydar 'Abd al-Shafi resigns from Palestinian delegation, but is coaxed back by other delegates and Gaza supporters. 'Abd al-Shafi disagrees with PLO decision to resume talks. (Qol Yisra'el 4/24 in FBIS 4/26)

IDF shoot dead unarmed Iraqi infiltrator just north of 'Aqaba. (MM 4/26)