Barak Seeks Help With Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak tried to persuade Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to press the Palestinians to agree to a delay in Israel’s promised hand-over of more West Bank land. But Barak said after talks in Alexandria that he would implement the U.S.-brokered Wye Plantation land-for-security deal, signed and suspended by his right-wing predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, if the Palestinians continued to oppose its modification. Barak wants the Wyemandated hand-over of parts of the West Bank folded into a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians. He asked Arafat during a meeting Tuesday to take two weeks to consider the idea.