Pact reached on pull-out from West Bank

JERUSALEM, JAN 5: Israel and the Palestinians reached agreement on Wednesday on an Israeli troop withdrawal from five per cent of the West Bank, ending seven weeks of deadlock and clearing the air in talks on a final peace treaty.

The withdrawal is to be carried out by Thursday, the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Negotiators also reaffirmed that an additional pullback, from 6.1 per cent of the West Bank, would take place on January 20 as scheduled. The two sides had deadlocked over whether it was up to Israel to decide what areas to hand over, or the Palestinians should have a say.