51.   Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are currently trying to reach agreement on expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

52.   Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO chief Yasser Arafat will meet in Egypt this week amid hopes of progress in talks on expanding Palestinian autonomy.

53.   Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres emerged from a meeting with PLO chief Yasser Arafat Sunday saying they had made progress toward expanding Palestinian autonomy.

54.   Kanafani said progress has been made in the negotiations in this Red Sea resort but not enough to achieve the goal of expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

55.   Last week, Peres said there had been secret talks over the past three weeks between Israelis and Palestinians on expanding autonomy.

56.   Negotiators hope to have an agreement by mid-September on expanding autonomy in the West Bank.

57.   Negotiators are still meeting in the Israeli coastal town of Eilat to work out details on a full accord for expanding autonomy.

58.   Opposition mounted Saturday night as negotiators hammered out final details of an accord on expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

59.   On Tuesday, Israel-PLO talks on expanding Palestinian autonomy also hit a snag over water rights.

60.   Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called an emergency meeting of advisers and suspended talks on expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.