Dr. Saeb Erekat, Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department in the PLO, denied reports that President Abbas and Israeli PM Olmert concluded an agreement on issues of the final status. Erekat said the drafting task was commissioned to the teams that were formed by both sides. Political sources on the Israeli side denied a report saying that the PLO and Israel reached a document of eight principles of understanding in preparation for the international peace conference. The following is the unofficial translation of the document which was translated by Maan news agency from the original Hebrew text:

The leadership in Israel and the PLO Leadership have to engage immediately in a process that leads at its conclusion to the establishment of two states: Israel and Palestine – according to a basic principles and understandings document as detailed in the following manners:

1- Israel ends its occupation of the West Bank within an agreed upon period and the withdrawal and the evacuation of settlements will take place gradually and in phases and every region that is evacuated or withdrawn from will be handed to the PA where rule and order have to prevail and to establish a system in Gaza that can be part of the peace process in a manner that can allow Israel to consider Gaza Strip and the West Bank as one political entity.

2- A Palestinian demilitarized state is to be established with its borders to be determined according to the maps of 1967 and agreement on its borders shall be agreed upon accurately based on the security needs, demographic developments and the humanitarian requirements which can open the door for exchange of land by 1:1 ratio with keeping settlement blocs in the hands of Israel and maintaining geographical contiguity in Palestine and prospects of economic prosperity.

3- In Jerusalem, there will be two capitals: one for the state of Israel and one for the state of Palestine. The Jewish quarters shall remain under Israeli sovereignty while the Arab quarters shall be under the Palestinian sovereignty with cooperation between the two sovereign authorities to allow running the life affairs of all residents.

4- Special arrangements to be prepared to secure access to the holy sites of the various religions and a special administrative authority shall be established to manage the arrival of both peoples to the holy sites inside the Old City of Jerusalem.

5- Palestine shall be declared the national homeland of the Palestinian people and Israel shall be declared the national homeland of the Jewish people.

6- A just and agreed upon solution of the Palestinian refugees problem has to be found along with recognizing the suffering the refugees faced with understanding of their individual right in the context of the comprehensive solution of their problem.

7- Both parties shall declare the importance of ending the conflict and shall work towards attaining the support of the public on each side to this agreement as much as possible and both parties shall use all their force separately and together to fight any sign of violence or terrorism issued from any country against the other.

8- Both parties shall consider this agreement as meeting the principles of the Arab Initiative posed by the Arab League and they call on the Arab League to take positive and effective steps towards its full implementation.