U.S. lays out Mideast peace plan

JERUSALEM, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. peace plan calls for Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a settlement in a year and actually implement it over 10 years, Yedioth Ahronoth said.

A document drawn up by the U.S. administration calls for the two sides to hold frequent meetings with the aim of reaching an agreement on final "status issues" within a year, the newspaper said Friday.

Intensive talks are to be held in isolated locations, where the sides will work out the issues that will be part of a permanent agreement. These include the future status of Jerusalem, the borders, the settlements and the status of the Palestinian refugees, the newspaper said.

Whenever the sides encounter difficulties or fail to reach an agreement on an issue, American officials will intervene and try to offer an alternative suggestion or compromise, the report said.

If all goes according to plan, at the end of a year the sides will sign an agreement that outlines the framework and declares an end to the conflict, the newspaper said. From there onward, the agreement will be implemented within a 10-year period, the report said.

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the coming months to persuade the parties to agree to painful concessions for the sake of peace, the newspaper said.

Dan Shapiro, the National Security Council adviser for Middle Eastern affairs, informed the heads of American Jewish organizations of Obama's plans, the report said.

Obama invited Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to attend a summit in Washington next week to announce the start of peace talks.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II were also invited to attend.

Netanyahu intends to propose to the U.S. administration that he meet with Abbas every two weeks to work out a deal, Israeli media reports said.

Once the two come to an agreement on principal issues they will be further worked on by smaller negotiating teams, the reports said.

On Thursday. Netanyahu met with his top advisers and began forming Israel's negotiating teams for peace talks scheduled to start under his direct supervision, the reports said.

"Serious negotiations in the Middle East mean only direct, discreet and continuous talks between the two leaders on key issues," Maariv quoted Netanyahu as saying.

Netanyahu said that while he would personally conduct negotiations with Abbas, his chief negotiator would be Yitzhak Molcho, The Jerusalem Post said.

The prime minister stressed that a small negotiating team would be able to conduct "swift, thorough and serious talks," Maariv said.