Israel Ready to cede parts of Jerusalem: Barak
Updated at: 1308 PST, Wednesday, September 01, 2010


OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel is ready to cede parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians in the framework of a peace deal, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday ahead of the start of talks in Washington, as the Israeli settlers announced they would break a moratorium and resume construction in the West Bank.

Barak told a local newspaper in an interview that partition in Jerusalem -- at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- would include a "special regime" for managing the city's holiest sites.
He said the killing of four Israelis by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank on Tuesday should not stop the talks starting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday for their first face-to-face negotiations, has publicly balked at dividing the city.